The California Adventure
by Cooper Schlickau
Summary: Nate discovers that he might be moving to California. What will happen then? Based on the book Blasts Off. Will have crossovers with "Killing Eve" and if requested, other crossover characters and tv shows too.
1. Chapter 1

Author's Note: I do not own any copyright, all rights belong to their respective owners.

Author's Note 2: This is my first ever fanfiction. I am so excited and I want to bring my imagination to you. This story will contain several references from other movies and will have a few changeups so please no harsh criticism or reviews. Polite criticism is welcome.

* * *

Prologue:

News. It could be really good or really bad. And it would either be learning that a girl you ever wanted in your life likes you (more than a friend of course), or you get home to find out that your parent telling you that a company wants to hire him in California.

You see, about a month ago, a man was laid off by an unknown company he worked at (for unknown reasons). So in order to get another job he had to dress up and go to job interviews to apply work in town...which isn't going so well. That man's name is Martin Wright. And he had a son named Nate Wright and a daughter named Ellen Wright. And their lives are about to be changed forever...

* * *

Chapter 1: We're...we're moving?

Nate made his way home after a _very brutal_ day at school. The boy took some _serious_ payback on a bully named Randy Betancourt by taking shots at him in a school newspaper, with disastrous results. It caused an ugly fight between the two and the punishment was peer counseling for both boys. This punishment caused Nate to miss the Mud Bowl practice (which the real game will come any day now).

But anyway, Nate arrived at his house and entered it. There, he finds dad preparing to make dinner when Nate pulls out his permission slip for the field trip (which is coming in a week) and asks:

"Dad, will you sign this so I can go to the museum?

"Sure," Martin took the slip and signed it and handed it back to Nate saying, "here you go."

Nate took it and after a few moments, asks his dad, "um...what about your phone number for work?"

"I wrote down our home phone," he says.

" Well, the field trip is on Wednesday and you go to the office on Wednesdays so…"

Suddenly, Nate stops his sentence. The reason, you ask? Martin suddenly feels… well… um… depressed? Sad? It was hard to tell.

"Um...dad?...dad?...dad," Nate asks in confusion. Several minutes pass, no response from his dad.

"Dad? Dad? Dad? Dad? Dad?"

Still no response. Suddenly, another Nate pops out of nowhere and says the exact same line.

"Dad? Dad? Dad? Dad? Dad?"

Several _more_ minutes pass, and _still_ no response from his dad. And before you knew it, a bunch of clones representing Nate was surrounding Martin and saying: "Dad? Dad? Dad? Dad? Dad?"

Until finally-

"Nate, go get your sister. Family meeting." As Martin finally responded, all the other clones of Nate suddenly disappear from sight.

"Um…okay," Nate replied back then went to get Ellen. He did that, and before you knew it, the siblings appear before their father in the living room for a meeting.

"I've been trying to figure out how to say this, but I'll go ahead and try to tell you the best I can," Martin says to his kids. Suddenly, he hesitates, unclear on how to deliver the news to his kids. Nate and Ellen started to worry.

"...d...dad?" Ellen asks, starting to freak out a bit. Even Nate was scared.

"Come on, dad. You're scaring me," Nate says to his father.

After a few moments, Martin finally speaks up. "I...I lost my job. The company laid me off last month."

This greatly shocks the siblings. " Wait... last month?" Ellen asks in confusion. "Didn't we see you go the office a few weeks ago?"

Nate jumped into the conversation. "Yeah, remember you were all dressed up and everything?"

It was true. About a few weeks ago, Nate returned home from school to find his dad getting ready to go to work (or what it _seemed_ to be, let alone the truth was going to be revealed in the present day). Nate didn't mind this since he thought his dad had a job to go to.

"Actually, kids...I wasn't going to the office," Martin explains. "I had a job interview. I've been going to lots of job interviews lately, trying to apply for work, but unfortunately, it hasn't been going so well. My first choice would be staying here."

"And the second choice?" Nate asks.

"Well...there IS a company that wants to hire me… in _California._ "

The word 'California' felt like a horrible echo to Nate and Ellen. Not to mention, how shocked the siblings were and they knew what was gonna happen.

"We're...we're moving?" Nate asks in shock.

"If I can't find any work here in town, yes Nate, I'm afraid we'll have to move," Martin replies sadly.

Ellen turned desperate...quickly. "D-don't make us go, dad. _Please?_ I can't leave my boyfriend and...and…"

"Sorry Ellen, I can't leave you two here by yourselves," Martin responds to Ellen's pleads to stay.

Immediately, Ellen runs to her room, slams the door shut, and cries into her pillow.I've

Nate was upset by the California plan. He spoke to his dad and said: "You… you'll find work here in town, right? There's hope...right?"

Martin nodded sadly. "Hopefully there's a miracle to come, but no matter what happens, I promise you, everything will be okay. No matter what happens."

Martin leaves Nate alone in the living room and goes to make dinner.

After a few moments, Nate walks outside and sits down on the front lawn, alone.

" _No matter what happens, I promise you, everything will be okay. No matter what happens."_ Martin says in Nate's mind that plays out on repeat. Over and over again.

"Oh man. What am I going to tell my friends?" Nate asks to himself, unaware of a flying object that's about to hit him.

 _Thunk!_

The object knocked Nate out for a few seconds and he turned to see what the source was that hit him in the head. It was a frisbee which rolled right beside Nate and laid flat on the ground. He then turned to see who threw the Frisbee. It was his friends, Francis Pope, Teddy Ortiz and Dee Dee Holloway.

"My apologies, Nate," Francis said nervously, hoping that Nate wouldn't blow up on his best friend.

"Though, you will need to do better than that in the Mud Bowl," Teddy chimed in.

The trio sits down beside Nate.

"Tell us about peer counseling. Did the three of you have lots and lots of group hugs?" Teddy asks Nate.

Everyone laughed. Except for Nate. He wasn't in the mood to do so.

"That… that never really happened. Sorry," Nate mumbled.

"What's wrong, Nate?" Dee Dee asks with deep concern.

"Nothing. Nothing," Nate replied back.

The thought of telling his best friends that he might be moving to California put a really ugly turn in Nate's stomach. He didn't know if they would take it so well. They might get upset about it and probably offer support too.

So Nate decided to change the subject.

"So… how was practice?" Nate asked his friends.

"Practice was fun," Francis replied.

Dee Dee cleared her throat and said with a warm smile: "Speaking of practice, I got news for you. It's a _surprise._ Ruby and I had a little talk after practice...and just as I thought, she _likes_ you. She said you're nice, she loves your sense of humor, she thinks you're cute, she even loves your _hair_!"

While Dee Dee was saying this, she wraps her arms around Nate in a big hug.

"So this girl is literally one in a million," Teddy cracks. Everyone laughed. Except for Nate. _Again._

The girl whom Nate had a crush on recently is Ruby Dinsmore. Nate gave up on his other crush, Jenny Jenkins, after finally figuring out that she _hated_ him since 1st Grade. Though Nate promised he would never give up on Jenny, it took him about 5 years of constant rejection and Ruby moving into the neighborhood to finally give in to the reality that Jenny disliked him and didn't want to be his girlfriend. And if it wasn't for the California plan, Nate would have been _very_ excited to learn that Ruby likes him. But unfortunately, the California plan seemingly interrupted that excitement for Nate. So he decided to at least explain why he wasn't happy at the moment.

But whenever he tried to speak, laughter kept Nate from telling the news about the recent news he was given by his dad.

After trying to talk several times, Nate finally shouted: "Guys! Let me talk for one second!"

That shout Nate gave stopped the laughter.

"Nate, what's your deal?" asks Francis.

"I was trying to speak, but you guys weren't listening to me," Nate replied angrily.

That's when Dee Dee started giving Nate the blank stare. Nate noticed this.

"What are you doing?" he asks Dee Dee.

"Not talking to you until you calm down," she replied.

"Why?"

No reply. Just a blank stare.

And the more Dee Dee gave the blank stare, the more Nate got really mad.

"Are you even listening to me? I was trying to speak, but you weren't listening to me!"

That's when Dee Dee got an idea.

"Hey Francis and Teddy, how was your day at school?" she asks.

"Pretty good. How was your day at school?" Francis asks in response.

"Mine was great! I'm betting that Nate and Ruby would make a great couple, but let's hope that Nate doesn't have a big temper tantrum all the time..." Dee Dee responded but got cut off by a very angry Nate.

"Temper Tantrum? WHO SAID ANYTHING ABOUT ME HAVING A BIG TEMPER TANTRUM?" Nate shouts.

That's when Dee Dee had another idea.

"Hey guys, I have another idea. Let's leave Nate alone until he calms down, shall we?" she asks Nate's friends.

Francis and Teddy agreed. The trio then left despite Nate demanding them to come back, then after a few moments, Nate went inside his house in anger and closed the door behind him and had his back leaning towards it. And after a brief moment, a few tears were slowly coming out of Nate's eyes.

" _Fine, I never needed you at the moment anyway,"_ Nate thought to himself.

Nate's back then slowly slid down the door, and Nate made his way close to his knees and put his hands on his face and sobbed for quite awhile.

And after a while, Nate ate dinner with his dad and sister in silence. No one was talkative at the table and didn't bother speaking a word to each other. And after dinner, Nate went upstairs to his room, closed his curtains (unaware that Francis was trying to communicate with him), and sat on his bed. That's when Nate started noticing how _messy_ it really is.

"Maybe I should clean it up," Nate says to himself. And he did. While he does this, Nate steps on a piece of paper. But not just a piece of paper, it was…

"My social studies assignment," Nate says as he picks up the paper and looked at it. It had sloppy handwriting and food stains covered all over the paper (almost).

" _Why can't you be more like your sister?"_ Nate's teacher, Mrs. Godfrey asks in Nate's mind.

"Because I AM a slob," Nate replies to Mrs. Godfrey's question in his mind.

"But I will change. For real, this time."

* * *

*Done. That's chapter 1, folks. I will continue soon but feel free to comment in the review section. So long! ;)


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Standing up to an arch rivaled classmate

The next day, Nate got up really early in the morning and packed up his backpack with his previous assignments and overdue library books school and made his way to PS 38 alone. He didn't want to be bothered right now. He had to change since he had bad grades in school and attends peer counseling.

So Nate made his way through the school entrance, in the first thing he did was returned his overdue library books (much to Mrs. Hickson's delight), and made his way to his _very messy_ locker. He then proceeded to clean up whatever junk he had in that locker and threw most of the unwanted garbage away and collected whatever homework assignments he had in it.

Soon a little bit of time passed, most of PS 38 classmates begin pouring into the school. But luckily for Nate, the boy was able to ask for extra assignments to redo his homework, much to the confusion from most of his teachers. Nate then made his way to social studies class. There was Mrs. Godfrey, one of his arch rivals, who gave Nate the usual glare. Nate didn't mind this, of course, mainly due to how much Nate really is a bad student.

Nate then approached Randy, who seemed pretty bitter about yesterday.

"Hey," Nate says to Randy.

"Hi," Randy replied back.

"That was something yesterday."

"Sure was."

"Um, Randy?"

"Yeah?"

"...never mind."

"I know you wanna say something, so say it."

"...I didn't have a great day yesterday."

"Why's that, Nate?"

"When I got home from school yesterday, two things occurred. One: I might be moving to California. And two: When I tried to talk to my friends, they didn't listen, so I had to shout at them to listen. Then all of the sudden, Dee Dee starts playing a game called 'I'm not talking to you until you calm down' on me."

"...is that right?"

Nate nodded.

Randy then asked, "Why are moving to California?

"Because there is some company wants to hire my dad there," Nate replies.

"I see. Is there anything I can do?"

"Not really, no. It's a fifty-fifty chance that I might be moving because Dad has one more job interview lined up. If that never succeeds, my next stop will be in California."

"Yikes. I'm… I'm sorry that you have to endure this. I don't mean to be a little off, but does that I get to have Ruby? For myself?"

"...sure. Knock yourself out."

"Thanks," Randy said and hugged Nate. Nate was surprised by this but then later returned the favor. Until a voice suddenly comes in.

"No hugging in school."

Nate and Randy pulled away from each other to the see who it was that spoke to them.

It was Principal Nichols, the school principal. And he was pretty happy, to be honest.

"Though I am pretty happy that you two are finally getting along with each other. So that's something."

"Sure is," Nate replies to the principal, who then walked away to the teacher's lounge.

Nate then turned to Randy then said, "One more thing. If you want to Ruby to love you, at least put the bullying persona behind you, okay?"

"Okay," Randy replied then suddenly looked at the strange object in Nate's pocket.

"What is that?" Randy asks.

"A taser," Nate replied.

Randy was stunned then said, "You better have a good reason why you brought that to school. Otherwise, you're gonna be in _BIG_ trouble."

"But it will be worth the shot," Nate replied again.

"What are you going use that for?" Randy asks.

"I got just the thing."

After that, the conversation ended. The pair their separate ways. And little did Nate knew that his friends were actually watching Nate hug Randy in person.

And so, class eventually begin. The bell rang and sooner or later, Mrs. Godfrey was at the chalkboard, doing her usual teaching thing (about social studies class, of course).

Several minutes later, this is when… well… um… we'll let it describe it.

Nate was minding his own business following along in class with the teacher when he felt a tap on his shoulder. He ignored it because he didn't want any trouble right now. But then a whisper came along with it.

"Nate?"

It was Ruby, Nate's latest crush, and would-be girlfriend. Nate _really_ disliked the idea of hurting Ruby's feelings by saying he's not interested in starting a relationship with her. But because of the California plan, Nate knew at one point he had to spill the beans.

For now, Nate didn't respond to Ruby and tried his best to follow along in class. But she kept bugging Nate so much and just as he was about to burst with anger, Mrs. Godfrey suddenly called on Nate for a question.

"Nate?"

Nate jumped, as he immediately feared he was gonna get the sledgehammer from his teacher, but ended up crashing onto to the ground, much to everyone's amusement.

"You ok, Nate?" Mrs. Godfrey asked.

"I'm fine, but a fly kept bugging me and wouldn't let me answer your question," Nate responded.

Then with narrowed eyes, Mrs. Godfrey said, "Well tell that fly to leave you alone for the rest of the class time, okay?"

"Okay," Nate replied.

Then Mrs. Godfrey turned back to the board. Nate took a quiet breath of relief and turned to look back to his textbook. Then, a whisper came along again.

"Nate."

It was Ruby.

"Not now," Nate whispered quietly to his would-be girlfriend.

"Um, Nate? Are you oka-" Ruby whispered but was suddenly got cut off by Nate snapping back-

" _Not. NOW!"_ Nate snapped back, immediately shocking Ruby.

Mrs. Godfrey immediately turned to see what the problem was.

"What's going on?" she asks.

Nate didn't want detention, so he then replied to Mrs. Godfrey's demand.

"Something's bothering me."

Mrs. Godfrey raised an eyebrow, then asked.

"Something….or _someone?_ "

"...someone," Nate replied back to his teacher.

Mrs. Godfrey nodded her head slowly then asked, "Would you like to sit somewhere else?"

Nate really hated to do this, _especially_ to Ruby, but he knew he was getting rallied up again. So Nate agreed.

"...with pleasure," Nate replies to Mrs. Godfrey, and then (believe it or not) actually begins pulling his desk away from Ruby, much to his friends' shock (and Dee Dee letting out a gasp), and Mrs. Godfrey's immediate confusion.

"Where... are you going?" she asks her student.

Nate ignored this question and placed his desk close to Mrs. Godfrey's desk, and then pulled out his redo assignments and finished and questions he missed. Mrs. Godfrey then slowly walked over to Nate's desk and put her hand on Nate's redo assignments. Nate looked up to his teacher who then asked, "Please answer my question. Why are you moving your desk over to MY desk?"

"To avoid trouble," Nate replied back.

Mrs. Godfrey then switched Nate's assignments to her direction and looked at it a bit. Few moments pass, then…

"Not one sight of cartoons. Not _one._ "

"The only other cartoon there is is in my backpack," Nate chimed in.

"Is that a one-way ticket to detention?"

"No."

"May I at least see it so I know you're not lying?"

"Sure."

And Mrs. Godfrey looked at the comic. Here's how it went:

 _Mrs. Czerwicki: Put your head on your desk. And no talking!_

 _Nate: What a sensible suggestion! I'll consider the consequences of my actions!_

 _After several minutes of introspection…_

 _Nate: That cartoon I drew was so MEAN! How could I have been so cruel? I must apologize to Mrs. Godfrey IMMEDIATELY!_

 _Mrs. Czerwicki: Run! Run like the wind!_

 _But…_

 _Nate: Where's Mrs. Godfrey?_

 _Random Sub: She was so devastated by your cartoon, she had to be HOSPITALIZED!_

 _*Shame Cam Close-up!*_

 _Nate: Oh No!_

 _Soon, at the hospital…_

 _Nurse: Her heart is broken! She's on life support!_

 _Nate: What have I done? Mrs. Godfrey! Can you forgive me? I promise to NEVER draw mean cartoons again!_

 _Nurse: Look! She's waking up!_

 _Mrs. Godfrey: Even in a coma, I heard what you said! Did you mean it?_

 _Nate: I meant EVERY word! I've seen the error of my ways! And it's all because you sent me to detention, you caring person, you!_

 _Mrs. Godfrey: Give me a hug!_

Mrs. Godfrey looked at the comic then looked straight into Nate's eyes and asked, "Are you trying to change for real, this time?"

"Of course," Nate replies then, believe it or not, actually gets up and HUGS Mrs. Godfrey in front of everyone in the classroom.

For real.

Everyone was stunned. No one has ever seen Nate hug Mrs. Godfrey. Then the student stopping hugging Mrs. Godfrey, knowing she would ask to stop being hugged then the teacher on why Nate would change for real, this time. But before Nate could answer, the intercom comes on.

" _Mrs. Godfrey. Your coffee's ready."_

"Coming," Mrs. Godfrey replies to the intercom. She then turns back to Nate saying, "I'll cross that bridge when I get back."

Mrs. Godfrey then leaves the room. As soon as the door closes behind her, all eyes in the room begin landing on Nate. At first, he tried to deny it by looking behind him and asking:

"What are we supposed to be looking at?"

"You," a voice says.

It was Gina Hemphill-Toms, Nate's worst arch-enemy. _EVER._

"This is almost like the one time you were hypnotized to try to stay neat. You're onto something again. Tell me this instant!" Gina angrily demanded.

"Nothing," Nate replied.

"Talk!"

"No."

"I mean it. You're faking again. Start talking!"

"Says a girl who won't shut up about A pluses and nonstop homework."

"I care about studying. All you care about is your stupid little comics."

"I've seen the error of my ways, Gina. I have nothing to hide from you. I'm coming out as a changed man."

"Says the guy who yelled at a girl and pulled his desk away from her!"

"I didn't want detention again, sweetheart. I get into trouble about every day."

"...did you just call me _sweetheart?"_

"Yes, I did. Thank you for noticing."

"Why?"

"Because…"

"Because why?"

"Because...I'm madly in love with you."

Stunned silence. Then everyone went:

"Ooooooooooohhhhhhhhhh."

Gina looks at Nate with a _very_ shocked look on her face.

"You... _ **WHAT!?**_ "

"You heard me," Nate says quietly.

"Well just for the record, Nate, just so we are perfectly clear on this (even I have already said this the one time the 'Nate likes Gina' rumors were around at the time)... _I. REALLY. HATE. YOUR. GUTS!"_

"Hey, calm down, sweetheart. Just calm d-"

"DON'T TELL ME TO CALM DOWN, YOU LITTLE BRAT! COMICS ARE JUST OF TIME IN MY OPINION AND I THINK IT'S BEST THAT YOU SHOULD BE IN TROUBLE AND THAT YOU SHOULDN'T EVEN **EXIST!"**

Those words out of Gina's mouth struck cold on Nate. And the classroom was silent and still, not even making a single move. But this didn't stop Nate from prevailing by saying this after a few moments of silence:

"Well get over it, Gina. Oh wait, I take that back. That 'Nate likes Gina' rumors, they're actually not real at all. I don't actually love you. I _despise_ you."

"Then why did you say it in the first place?" Gina growled through clenched teeth.

"Just to let you know that Mrs. Godfrey doesn't actually like you and to get your sinister smirk off your face for _once!_ "

"And what does that mean?"

"My sister was Mrs. Godfrey's favorite student, so you're not the only one who is Mrs. Godfrey's favorite students and stop being Mrs. Godfrey's toy. You're not her toy to play with. She doesn't love you! And another thing is that not everyone in the world likes you, so don't try to justify yourself, because it's not going to work and that you get people into trouble and you repeatedly do it just for your own benefit. You might be right too. Comics _are_ a waste of time. And the last thing I want to tell you is that I'm trying to change for real, this time, so try not to stop me or set me up for reason, okay?"

Gina wanted to explode with anger so much on Nate, but unfortunately for her, tears were slowly pouring down her cheeks. The class looked at Gina in surprise. No one has ever seen Gina close to crying like this. Until a few seconds later, she DID cry.

"You're WRONG!" Gina cried, immediately wiping her now-damped face with ongoing tears. "Mrs. Godfrey does love me. She DOES! You're the problem. And I'm going to dispose of you and make everything right!"

Gina began laughing like a crazed maniac with tears _still_ coming down her cheeks and slowly made her way towards Nate, who began to panic.

"What are you doing?" he asks Gina.

"I'm going to KILL you!" Gina snapped at Nate as she got closer and closer to him. Just then, a voice intervenes.

"And what is all this commotion about?"

Everyone turns to the source of the speaker. It was Mrs. Godfrey, who had just returned in a nick of time with her coffee.

"Uh...nothing!" Gina says, turning from monstrous to super sweet in one millisecond.

"Didn't look like it to ME," Mrs. Godfrey said, immediately frowning in the process. "You sounded like you were THREATENING the boy's life with certain death."

"But...but…" Gina started to protest, but the damage was done.

Immediately, Mrs. Godfrey puts her coffee on her desk and pulls out a pink pad and begins writing on it. Afterwards, she hands the pink slip to Gina saying, "Report to detention after school today."

Gina gasped. "D...detention?"

"That's your second time you got detention, Gina," Nate whispered quietly to Gina.

"You should be the one to go to detention!" Gina snapped at Nate, pointing _directly_ at the spiky haired boy.

"Calm down," Nate replies quietly.

"I am calm. What's with you black people?"

Gina immediately regretted what she just said, because of the next few seconds later...

"... _black people?"_ Mrs. Godfrey repeated, jumping into the argument.

Everyone looked at Gina with shock.

"What? No no no no no no no no. No. I don't mean black people. I mean people with...very chubby weight," Gina responded back.

Gina immediately regretted what she just said, _again,_ because one of Nate's friends, Chad Applewhite, felt _very_ offended.

"Are you calling me fat?" Chad asks in shock.

"No no. I don't mean you. (I have a crush on you, by the way). I mean… Kim Cressly,"

Kim felt mad.

"What did you say to me?"

Mrs. Godfrey was furious now.

"Gina, I will NOT tolerate any disgusting behavior in this classroom! This is a _very_ difficult time for our country as of right now!"

"But..but I'm not disgusting! I'm just saying that-"

Nate immediately cut off Gina and unbeknownst to anyone, began pulling out a taser saying:

"I'm only gonna say this one more time, Gina," Nate says to Gina. "Calm. _Down_."

"I'M CALM!" Gina screamed at Nate. And at that very moment, Nate went for the kill and tased Gina right on the chest and knocked her to the ground cold. Bullseye!

The crowd was stunned by the event. Seconds later, everyone began saying things such as-

"Nate tased Gina!"

"OMG. Did you see that?"

"He just stood up to her."

"She'll feel THAT in the morning."

And yes, the tasing left Gina twitching like crazy too.

"Ugh, she was getting on my nerves," Nate mumbled to himself.

Nate then went back to his seat. Then he heard someone clear her throat.

" **Ahem!** "

Nate looked up. It was Mrs. Godfrey. She didn't look happy. And knowing that she will want the taser immediately, he hands it over to her, who said:

"Can you give one good reason why I shouldn't tell the principal about what you did just now?"

"...because I have all my make-up work done for you," Nate replied, handing not one, not two, but ALL his make-up work to his teacher effective immediately.

Mrs. Godfrey took all the assignments and looked at it and was stunned that there were no cartoons in sight. She then looked at Nate in surprise and asked:

"You...did all this?"

Nate nodded.

"Sure did," he responded.

"And where did you get that taser?"

"From my Dad's room."

"Did he say you could bring it to school?"

Nate didn't want to lie, so he told the truth.

"No."

"Then that's not quite enough to save you from getting suspended, or _expelled._ "

The classroom went silent. Nate didn't want to lose the argument against his teacher, so he had to go all out instead of backing down now.

"You look like a beauty queen," Nate replied.

"...still not enough."

Nate didn't want to tell anyone else (besides Randy) that he might be moving to California, especially when everyone is in the classroom present and in earshot (except for an unconscious Gina).

Instead, Nate whispered the news to Mrs. Godfrey's ear.

After a few moments, Mrs. Godfrey then said, "I see. I'll ask your dad if that's true then. One more thing if you don't want big trouble:"

Mrs. Godfrey then pointed at Nate's desk close to Mrs. Godfrey's desk. "Move that to where it originally was, and I'll consider not telling the principal what you did."

"Okay," Nate replied. He then moved his desk back to where it belonged to. And for the rest of the class time, it was all too quiet for anyone to talk.

And soon, the bell rang. Social Studies is over (For now).

*Phew! That took longer than expected. Please comment on what you think of this chapter, and see you all next time! ;)*


	3. Chapter 3

Author's note on 10/19/18, I have done some reedits to this chapter so enjoy!

Chapter 3: You've got spikes!

Nate left social studies class and headed down the hallway to his now-clean locker. Then he saw…

"That's so funny, Snooki Bear!"

Yep, Jenny Jenkins and Artur Pashkov. Artur was Nate's occasional rival at times (example: raising money to win skateboard), but other times a good friend (helping him win the bet against Marcus Goode, a seventh-grade bully). Nate knew it's time to at least say _something,_ so without hesitation, he heads over to the lovebirds to start a conversation.

"Hey guys," Nate says to Artur and Jenny.

"Hi," Jenny replies back.

"Hallo Nate," Artur replies back.

"You guys are still together. Can't say I'm surprised," Nate says to the couple.

"Yeah," Jenny replies.

"Nate, is thing every okay?" Artur asks with concern.

"...yes. Something I need to know about?" Nate responds.

"You want to explain what prompted you to tase Gina in social studies?" Jenny asks with a narrowing eyebrow.

"Well...it's just that… I had to _finally_ get rid of a thorn that _just_ wouldn't go away for once," Nate explained.

"Nate, I have a question for you. Why you huggings Mrs. Godfrey today?" Artur asks.

"Because I have seen the error of my ways, and wanted to do right by everyone else," Nate replies.

"So why come to us?" Jenny asks.

"Because I thought I at _least_ get something out and get it over with," Nate replied back.

"Whats do you meanings?" Artur asks.

"Two things. One: I would like to say that you two are a very nice couple."

"Thanks...but what's the other thing you're going to say?" Jenny asks.

"That I get it," Nate replied.

"About what?"

"That you _hate_ my guts. But it's okay. I understand now."

"Whats do you meanings?" Artur asks.

"Since I kept chasing Jenny for 5 years since first grade, I've come to realize that she does not want me around her like a pesky fly that just wouldn't go away," Nate explained.

"How were you finally tipped off?" Jenny asked.

"I think that a while ago something in the back of my head was telling me that you didn't like me, so I ended up giving up for good."

"...is that...it? Or is there a little more to your claim?"

"Actually, there is a little more to that," Nate replied. Then he cleared his throat and explained his account to Jenny:

"Let's start with the time when I first met you when I accidentally called you 'Jonny' because my grammar wasn't good then. From that to rejecting numerous offers like eating lunch together, sharing swing sets, and dancing together. And the time I was trying to write a love poem for you, and accidentally dumping egg salad on you…"

"Wait, that was an _accident?_ " Jenny asks in surprise.

"Yes. I was going for _Gina_ instead of you," Nate replied back.

"What has she done that made you unhappy?"

"She named my fleece ball team 'Kuddle Kittens'," Nate replied.

"Though she helping you winning ball fleece," Artur replies to Nate's response.

"True," Nate says quietly.

"Anyway, continue," Jenny says to Nate.

"Okay. From that to the time when you saw me at my locker and said I was a _slob,_ and to make it worse, your boyfriend _EMBARRASSED_ me in front of everyone (which I forgive Artur for that) and the time you called me an _idiot_ when I had bean bag pellets all over me, so I ended up writing a list of _stupid_ pet names for Artur because I was _too jealous._ Those are some notable examples for you, Jenny. Forgive me for not staying out of your life as I should have, but I'll leave you alone for good, this time. I understand now that you hate me, to which I forgive you for. I get it now, Jenny. I get it," Nate says to Jenny.

At first, Jenny didn't know what Nate was trying to say, but the more she learned from Nate's explanation, the more she started to feel _very_ bad for herself for not paying attention to Nate. She was even starting to tremble too.

After a few seconds…

"Well...um….is...is that all you wanted to share?" Jenny asks with her voice wobbly.

"Yeah. Anyway, I won't hold you guys up. Goodbye," Nate says before turning around and starting to walk away.

"Nate," Artur calls out to Nate.

Nate turned around in question.

"So can I ask why you acted differently in social studies today?" Jenny asks.

"Um...It's a long story. Can it wait for now?" Nate asks in response.

"...sure. Bye," Jenny replies.

"Bye."

And after that, Nate parts ways with the couple and heads to his now-clean locker. Then he gets his supplies for English, shuts the locker door then turns around to see his friends behind him. And they do _NOT_ look happy.

Francis was the one to start the conversation.

"Well... that was something today," he says to Nate.

"Sure was," Nate mumbles.

"I can't believe you actually tased Gina like that. That was _GOLD._ "

"Indeed."

"Though, that wasn't very nice on what you did to Ruby," Teddy says with an upset tone in his voice.

"Well, I didn't want detention again. You got anything to say for that?" Nate asks with a hint of anger in his voice.

"Well Sherlock Holmes, you had NO business to yell at Ruby and pull your desk away from her! Do you have ANY idea how you made her feel? You _actually_ broke her heart doing that. Plus, she's a very nice girl!" Dee Dee replied angrily.

"Sorry, but no. I didn't. But I believe she was close to getting _ME_ in trouble."

"So _what?_ I mean, what is wrong with you?"

"Um…"

"Is Randy doing this to you? Is he _blackmailing_ you?

"This has _NOTHING_ to do with Randy. At all."

"Then why were you two hugging earlier today?"

Nate's heart sank. He had no clue that his friends caught him hugging Randy.

"...because he's finally acting up for once and that he's NOT going to act like a mean bully _ever again._ Not to mention, he actually _understands_ me now _,_ " Nate replied back after a moment of silence.

After a few moments of silence, the intercom went on and it said

 _"Nate Wright to the principal's office, please. Nate Wright to the office."_

Nate's heart stopped.

"You told the principal on me?" Nate asked his friends, clearly outraged at what he's hearing.

Dee Dee simply gave Nate the blank stare instead of firing back.

"Yup. Told the principal EVERYTHING about what you did in social studies. Though, I am pleased that you stood up to Gina, so that's something," Francis responded to Nate, stepping in for Dee Dee.

"But WHY report me?" Nate demanded an explanation to his friends.

"Because of what you did to Ruby. It wasn't easy, but it HAD to be done," Teddy replied.

"And YOU'RE gonna be in REAL trouble when Principal Nichols questions you about what you did to that poor girl!" Dee Dee angrily hissed at Nate before leaving with Francis and Teddy following her.

Nate knew that he was gonna have his friendships damaged because of his _so-dumb_ move back in social studies. But unfortunately, it was gonna _have_ to come at some point, because _NATE_ is the one who gets into frequent trouble at school and that 'I'm not talking to you until you calm down' game his friends played on Nate really took a toll on him. And to make it _WORSE,_ Nate had a bad dream last night on how to get back at his friends for not talking to him, Nate had to go through Ruby to get to his friends (Dee Dee in particular).

Here was the dream only that Ruby was present:

 _*Francis gets done saying that practice was fun._

 _*Dee Dee clears her throat and says with a warm smile._

" _Speaking of practice, I got news for you. It's a surprise. Ruby and I had a little talk after practice..._ _and just as I thought, she likes you!"_

 _As Dee Dee says this, she wraps her arms around Nate in a big hug._

" _She said you're nice, she loves your sense of humor, she thinks you're cute, she even loves your hair!" Dee Dee exclaims with joy, knowing that there will a new relationship blossoming very very soon._

" _So this girl is literally one in a million," Teddy cracks. Everyone laughed. Except for Nate._

 _Nate didn't want to hurt Ruby's feelings by saying he's not interested in starting a relationship with her. But because of the California plan seemingly interrupted that excitement for Nate. So he decided to at least explain why he wasn't happy at the moment. But when he tried to speak, laughter kept Nate from telling the news about the California plan._

 _After trying several times to speak, Nate shouts: "Guys, let me talk for one second!"_

 _That shout Nate gave stopped the laughter abruptly._

" _Nate, what's your deal?" Francis asks._

" _I was trying to speak, but you guys weren't listening to me!" Nate replied angrily._

 _That's when Dee Dee started giving Nate the blank stare. (AKA this is the trouble begins)._

" _What are you doing?" Nate asks Dee Dee._

" _Not talking to you until you calm down," she replied._

" _Why?"_

 _No reply. Just a blank stare._

" _You do realize that is going to make me madder?" Nate warned._

 _Still no answer._

 _Francis chimes in._

" _Well, if you're done, are you ever going to ask her out?" he asks Nate._

 _After a few moments…_

" _...no," Nate replied._

 _Everyone looked at Nate with shock._

" _What? Why?" Teddy asks in confusion._

" _I thought I liked Ruby... but because you're not listening to me, I changed my mind," Nate responded before himself away from Ruby and making his way towards his front door._

 _Dee Dee immediately jumped ahead and blocked the door from Nate._

 _"Move!" Nate ordered._

 _"Never," Dee Dee responded before she began pushing Nate away from his house._

 _And after a few minutes and several blocks later, Nate's friends pushed Nate over to where Ruby is, who was in the park._

 _"Please let me go!" Nate demanded, but no one listened to him._

 _"Hey Nate," Ruby said before getting off the park bench and greeting Nate,_

 _Clearly, Ruby initially didn't notice Nate's anger towards his friends, but as Dee Dee handed Nate over to Ruby, she could clearly see that he's extremely mad._

 _"Package for Ruby Dinsmore," Teddy impersonated being a delivery person._

 _"And Nate, while you're with her, why don't you just take a deep breath and calm down," Dee Dee said to Nate, as she didn't know what Nate would later do next._

 _Nate and Ruby left despite Nate's will and as Nate's friends were leaving, they suddenly heard:_

 _"...WHAT?"_

 _It sounded like a combination of a foghorn and a chainsaw to Nate's friends, so they headed to the source of the yelling and soon enough, they saw it:_

 _Nate was giving Ruby a five-star butt chewing, and Ruby DEFINITELY looked pretty frightened to Nate's behavior._

 _And as Ruby tried to comfort Nate, he did the absolute worst...and pushed Ruby away, who then scrapped her knee on the sidewalk._

 _And immediately, Ruby burst into tears._

 _This would be (or WOULD HAVE BEEN) the most_ _ **UNFORGIVING**_ _moment for Nate because his friends immediately rushed to Ruby's side and asked questions such as:_

" _Are you okay?"_

" _Are you hurt?"_

" _Did he hurt you?"_

 _Dee Dee turned around to Nate in anger and shouted:_

" _What is WRONG with you?"_

" _I had a bad day," Nate argued._

" _You had a BAD DAY?"_

 _"Yeah_ , _I had a bad day, okay?"_

" _NO! NO! That is NOT okay! You are NEVER going ANYWHERE near Ruby or ANY of us AGAIN!_

 _Nate looked at Dee Dee for a bit, who then said:_

" _We are DONE!"_

 _Dee Dee turned on her heel then walked over to Francis and Teddy who were helping Ruby get to her feet while she was sobbing uncontrollably from the accident._

" _Dee Dee!" Nate says as he got closer to his now ex-friends and Dee Dee turns around and hisses:_

" _Do you know what your problem is, Nate? You can't say 'What If'...and you never will."_

 _And after that final word to Nate, Dee Dee then turns to Ruby and helps her out and asking:_

" _Can you walk?"_

" _I...I think so," Ruby replied weakly between sobs._

" _Calm on. Let's get a band-aid on your knee," Francis spoke gently to Ruby before he, Teddy and Dee Dee started leading Ruby away, but not before Dee Dee gives a final glare and dirty look to Nate before they disappear._

" _Fine, I never needed you anyway," Nate thought to himself before walking away towards home, and knowing that he can't be here in town anymore, Nate began praying discreetly that he move away from his ex-friends._

 _And Nate got his wish._

 _"Good riddance," Nate thought to himself as the family left Nate's hometown. For good, not even_ _acknowledging Ellen sobbing in the car._

*End of dream.*

Nate was left feeling numb. He couldn't believe it. His friends _betrayed_ him.

" _Why?"_ Nate thought to himself.

Was it because he got mad at Ruby today?

Probably was.

Nate really hated himself for yelling at Ruby. But the problem was this:

Again, it is possible that Nate might be moving to California because of a company wanting to hire his dad there. Nate doesn't really hate Ruby. At all. He still thinks she's awesome. And beautiful, of course. But what's the point of telling Ruby that Nate loves her back when he's never going to _SEE_ her again? That ALONE is the problem.

After a few moments, Nate walks slowly to the Principal's office and soon enough, Nate knocked on the office door.

"Come in," The Principal said.

Nate opened the door.

"Ah, Nate. Sit down, please," Principal Nichols gestured to a chair.

Nate slowly sat down, knowing the worst is about to come.

"Can you explain to me what happened today in social studies?" The principal asked Nate.

Nate couldn't respond. He felt like he had sawdust in his mouth.

"Can't explain?" Principal Nichols asked, noticing Nate unable to speak.

Nate nodded his head slowly.

"Well, according to the complaints I got today, you reportedly yelled at another student (because she was giving you problems) and you tased yet another student too. Can you give any comments on that?" The Principal went to proceed with the reports he gotten today.

"Well... they were giving me problems and I had to defend myself. I do have my rights...right?" Nate asked nervously.

"By yelling and pulling your desk away from that person and tasering another?" The Principal responded back.

"But Gina was displaying disgusting comments towards people with overweight and black people," Nate did his best to justify his actions.

"And yelling at another girl for bugging you?" Principal Nichols responded again.

That's when Nate got _extremely_ upset and mad at the same time and got up from his seat to get to the Principal's level and:

"She was CLOSE to getting me in trouble and I didn't want any further trouble with what happened yesterday, especially at home, and my friend's not listening! None of this would have happened if they just LISTENED to me!"

Nate's stomach went numb in a millisecond, based on the Principal's reaction to Nate's sudden outburst, so he slowly sat back down, knowing the ugly was about to strike.

But surprisingly, the Principal (because he noticed a few tears rolling down Nate's eyes) calmly asked Nate with the following question:

"And what's going on at home that I need to know about?"

Silence fell again. Nate knew he had to get out of the situation fast, so he had to give off the real reason why Nate acted like a jerk.

"Because I am moving...to California," Nate replied, looking like he's about to collapse in shock.

"And why's that?" the Principal asked.

"Because my if my dad can't work here in town, me and my family will HAVE to move," Nate explained the problem.

The Principal nodded his head and asked:

"And if I contact your dad, will he have the same account as yours?"

"Yes," Nate whispered with pain in his voice.

"Okay then. Here's the thing: I'm NOT going to report you NOW, it's just that... I'm gonna have to take immediate action against you for the taser part. And that is going to be three days of Out of School Suspension for you as your punishment. And it starts tomorrow, Monday and Tuesday," Principal Nichols explained to Nate, whose heart smashed to the ground.

"Don't forget. Your punishment starts tomorrow. That's all. You may go now," The Principal finished and dismissed Nate, who left the office slowly and walked down the hallway, where he is greeted by a few students.

"We heard what you did to Gina today, so great job. How did it feel getting revenge on Gina?" One student asked.

"Pretty sweet," Nate replied with a small smile.

"Well, again, great job," said another student before leaving Nate, who headed for his locker in pure bitterness.

That's when a hand is placed on Nate which caused him to turn him around to see who it was.

"Oh. You again," Nate responded bitterly.

It was Nate's friends.

"What did the principal say?" Francis asks.

"Did you get expelled?" Teddy asks with concern.

"Not yet. But I'm close now because of you," Nate replied back.

"I'm sorry, okay? We had to!"

"May I ask why?"

"Well...um…"

"Is it because of what I did to Ruby? Forgive me, but I didn't want detention again. Case Closed."

Nate began to walk away again. But ended up getting pulled over again in the process.

"Nate, listen to me! The reason why I had to sell you out was that…" Dee Dee started but Nate finished the sentence.

"Because of what I did to Ruby? Yep, that's what I said a little bit ago."

"Look, can we get past this now?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because of you."

"Us?" Teddy asks.

"Yes. And I may bear SOME responsibility for the trouble I'M getting, but you had NO right to sell me out!" Nate hissed.

Again, Dee Dee simply gave Nate the usual blank stare.

"...and you do _even_ realize how much trouble I got? I now officially have a three day OSS because of you" Nate said to Dee Dee in a bittered voice.

"No," Dee Dee replied quietly.

"And you blew it for me?"

"Blew what for you?"

That's when a voice jumps in.

"Nate, are you okay?"

It was Ruby. She slowly walked up to Nate and inserted her hand into Nate's hand.

Yet again, Nate really hated himself for yelling at Ruby back in social studies. But because of his friends betraying him and refusal to understand his anger, Nate knew it was time to at least turn away the opportunity to ask Ruby out. Not to mention, Nate somehow realized that Ruby was his friends' biggest weakness. Especially to Dee Dee.

And speaking of Dee Dee...

"You BETTER not jerk your hand away from Ruby. You get me?" she warned.

Nate tried to defend himself, but Dee Dee cut him off, saying:

"I don't want to hear it from you for now, okay?"

And with that, Dee Dee sent Nate on his way with Ruby. Little would she know that relationship won't last long...

"Nate, are you okay?" Ruby asked with concern to Nate.

Nate didn't answer and tried to avoid eye contact with her. Nate felt like he is being FORCED into a relationship now that Dee Dee is refusing to listen to Nate.

"Is something bothering you?" Ruby asked again.

"Can I be left alone right now?" Nate asked politely.

"I can tell what happened in social studies is affecting you. Something tells me that you probably shouldn't have tased Gina and left her alone, not to mention the fact you shouldn't have gotten angry. You should have just let it go."

This is where the newborn relationship is about to take a sharp 180. Not to mention that some portion of Ruby's response is what got Nate to hurt Ruby in Nate's nightmare.

Nate turned and looked at Ruby in shock and anger.

"...WHAT?"

 _"Oops. I made a big mistake,"_ Ruby thought to herself.

"That's it, we're done!" Nate responded angrily before walking away quickly.

"Nate, WAIT!" Ruby called out, trying to catch up to her new boyfriend.

And as soon as she did, Ruby tried to rap her arms around Nate, who immediately responded back by blocking Ruby from comforting him.

Randy was nearby alongside his friends and noticed the incident growing.

"Guess he's trying to fulfill his promise to you," one of Randy's friends suggested.

Randy nodded back.

But before Randy could intervene, Nate pushed away Ruby, who fell to the ground, but luckily, she didn't scrap herself. Thank goodness! It was already bad enough that Nate has OSS, it could have gotten WORSE, had Nate hurt Ruby very hard.

And before you knew it, Nate found himself belittling and humiliating his new girlfriend in front of the ongoing crowd. Even Dee Dee, Francis, and Teddy came forward to see what was the commotion about.

"...so there! We are DONE!" Nate hissed before turning to walk away but Dee Dee's voice stopped him.

"Nate! WHAT is your problem?"

Nate stopped. Randy knew what was happening. He then whispered to most of the crowd that Nate was upset. It was a 'pass it on' moment that occurred during the argument.

Nate turned around. His face burnt red of clear anger and hot tears boiling out of his eyes. Everyone noticed that too.

"I thought I _liked_ Ruby...but because of your betrayal towards me, and refusal to listen to me, I CHANGED my mind," Nate spoke angrily.

Francis' jaw dropped. Teddy let out an 'ooohhhh'. Dee Dee gasped with her hands close to her mouth.

"And you know what your problem is? You can't say 'What If'... and you never will," Nate finished. before turning on his heel and walking away.

"Okay, you're too far, Nate. This is, like, totally unnecessary," Dee Dee spoke quietly, trying to diffuse the situation.

Nate stopped dead in his tracks, then waved his fists in the air and shouted:

"I'M GOING TOO FAR? WHAT IS **WRONG** WITH YOU!?"

More tears were spilling out of Nate's eyes now.

"This wasn't what we had in mind! Didn't plan this out!" Dee Dee protested.

"Well guess what, Dee Dee, love doesn't go by a plan or force!" Nate said back in anger.

One of Randy's friends cheered in support for Nate:

"Yeah!"

Nate gasped suddenly.

"You see? There! She just gave me the blank stare without knowing my emotions!" Nate pointed to Dee Dee.

Everyone booed at Dee Dee, who looked back in embarrassment.

"Nate, STOP IT!" Dee Dee hissed.

"I was totally wrong about you. I open myself up, and trusted you as a good friend...but you've got spikes man! You've got spikes!" Nate replied weakly before walking away in tears.

"Nate!" Randy called out, before turning to Dee Dee with a glare before running after Nate with concern.

Dee Dee looked on in stunned silence before turning to the crowd for support.

But the only response that was given back was anger and disgust to Dee Dee and the rest of Nate's now ex-friends before turning to their own separate ways and walking away with several students murmuring words to each other and headshake exchanged.

*Done! That took awhile. I lost my progress several times, but it was worth the try. I'll see you soon again. Byeeee! ;)*


	4. Chapter 4

Author's note: updated on 10/21/18. Enjoy!

Chapter 4: The Lunchoedown

English and Art class went very slow as if it were to _never_ end. Though they went very slow today, Nate handed in his make-up work for Ms. Clarke and Mr. Rosa, much to their excitement and delight.

Nate _never_ forgot the last thing he said to his friends before leaving them behind. Neither did Dee Dee, who thought to herself:

 _Why would he reject such a beautiful girl like that? He was given the opportunity of a lifetime, and he rejected it. Why?_

Sure, the friendships between Nate and his friends are over for good, but Dee Dee urged Ruby and Nate's friends to not give up yet, as she claims to be suspicious of Nate and Randy, because she knows that (a) Nate _still_ likes Ruby, but for some reason, Nate is pretending he _doesn't_ anymore, and (b) Randy might have something to do with Nate, because Nate's friends witnessed Nate and Randy hugging earlier today.

Lunch arrived and Nate got his food and went to look for a place to sit. And after a long search, Nate finally found a place to sit. And it was with Randy and his gang.

"You gonna sit with us?" Randy asks.

"Yeah," Nate replied.

Nate sat with Randy and his gang and ate lunch and chatted a little bit.

A few tables away from Nate, sat Francis, Dee Dee, Teddy, Chad, and Ruby.

Francis looked around the lunchroom, before turning back to say:

"Man, people are angry at us."

"It's crazy, isn't it? No thanks to Nate, we are now part of the unpopular crowd," Teddy responded while sinking his teeth into his sandwich.

"Does _anyone_ understand the significance of 'I'm sorry' anymore?" Ruby asked.

"Yeah...yeah, good point, Ruby," Francis responded before looking around again and asking: "What happened to the significance?"

Ever since the fight today, everyone turned against Nate's ex-friends through gossip and chit-chatter, and NO ONE was willing to talk to the group and has silently shunned them out from their own respective groups.

Chad opened up and said:

"Don't poke a bear. He might eat you."

Everyone looked at Chad in confusion.

"What does that mean?" Dee Dee asked.

Teddy spoke up quickly.

"I think that's one of his grandma's sayings or something."

"Oh...does...does that mean we played a part in this mess we're in?" Dee Dee asks in regret.

"I'm afraid so," Chad said sadly.

"Then, how did he manage to escape punishment today in Mrs. Godfrey's class today?" Teddy asked.

Silence.

"I don't know...but I am BOUND to know what Nate's problem is, and I will not rest until I do," Dee Dee said with determination in her voice.

"Well, good luck, but do it with EXTREME caution. I don't think that Nate liked on what ya did with him," Chad replied while drinking soda.

"You mean the way I wasn't talking to Nate until he calmed down?" Dee Dee asked.

Chad nodded.

"I was waiting until he..." Dee Dee started before Chad said back:

"Think he was trying to express his emotions to you, but you weren't allowing him to do so. It's like you're intolerant to someone who has a bad cold. It could still upset you."

Dee Dee immediately knew Chad was right, but she didn't know what to say.

Silence again. Then:

"Hey, Nate! Heard you broke up with Ruby and your friends today!"

Yup. Gina was teasing Nate over today's incident.

"Leave him alone, Gina," Randy hissed at Gina, who countered back, saying:

"I'm just having some _fuuuuuuuunnnnnn_ here, so back off!"

That's when a light bulb went off Nate's head.

So Nate quietly waved for attention and-

"Hi, everyone! I'm Gina Hemphill-Toms! I'm the SMARTEST student in school!" Nate intimidated Gina.

Everyone began laughing. Everyone except Gina.

"Oh, so you're trying to intimate me, are you? Okay," Gina responded before intimidating Nate back by-

"Oh look everyone! I'm Nate Wrong! I'm the worst student in school and loves stupid comic books!"

Nate quickly responded by correcting Gina by saying:

"Two things. One: It's Nate WRIGHT. And two: I'm done with comic books, so…"

Then Nate snapped his fingers left and right and doing the swirl.

Everyone was stunned then exclaimed:

"Ooooooooooohhhhhhhhhh."

Gina looked stunned. Then she tried to intimate Nate again but…

"Oh look everyone… I'm Nate Wright... and I just love trying to...trying to stand up to Gina and thinks I'm gonna win."

No laughter from the audience.

*Cue crickets chirping*

"Well, let me counter that…" Nate replied before getting into a lady pose and pretending to have hair in a ponytail like Gina's and stroked several times. Not to mention that Nate was getting quite the laughter from the lunch room.

"Oh, that's very funny, Nate. Let me try to counter THAT.." Gina responded before trying to pose like a man pretending to have spiky hair like Nate's and stroking several times. Unfortunately, not much laughter came.

"Let me counter that one," Nate replied back before pulling out a pair of scissors and looked ready to cut his pretend long hair of Gina's.

"Don't you _dare,_ Nate. Don't you-" Gina warned but unfortunately, her warning fell on deaf ears as Nate pretended to cut Gina's pretend hair.

The entire lunchroom roared with laughter. Gina was _STUNNED._ She looked around the lunchroom as laughter arose her. And something was building inside Gina.

Rage.

And anger.

Hot, boiling anger.

And without warning, Gina begins shouting.

"OH YEAH!? OOHH YEEEEEEEAAAAHHHH! **!**! **!**!? **?**? **?** "

Then Gina starts screaming at Nate like _insane._ And long and loud for the laughter from the lunchroom to quickly die down.

After a long scream, Gina stops and takes a few short breaths while staring straight at Nate, who said quietly:

"It's just a hoedown, Gina."

"WELL, THIS IS YOUUUU, NAAAAAAATTE! **!**! **!**!" Gina shouts before turning into a literal madman (or mad WOMAN if you want to call it that way) and starts going crazy. And not one person in the lunchroom laughed. Not _one._ It was all silent and nobody making a move but watching Gina going crazy.

"What...are you doing?" Nate asks in confusion.

"I'M YOU, NATE!" Gina snapped before jumping up and down and making noises and turning to a lunch table and jumping up and down like with it like WICKEDLY INSANE.

"HOW ABOUT **THAT** NATE, HUH?" Gina shouts.

Then Gina turned to Ruby and exclaimed with a risen hand:

"Oh, I'm gonna high five Ruby! Give me five!"

Ruby didn't high five Gina back. She just stared at Gina. That's when Gina GRABS Ruby's hand and hisses:

"Give me FIVE!"

And next thing you know, Gina is SLAPPING Ruby's hand like _nuts_ for a total of _three times._

"HUH? HOW ABOUT **THAT,** HUH? THAT'S YOU, NATE!" Gina shouted at Nate after slapping Ruby in the hand. Ruby looked like she was about to burst into tears.

Even Nate was disgusted and angered by Gina.

"Okay, p...please stop," Nate says quietly.

"I'm Nate. I'm Nate. And I need attention," Gina responded while getting on one of the lunch tables.

Then Gina exclaimed:

"YEAH, I'M NAAAAAAATTE! I'M NATE! LOOK HERE! LOOK, THAT'S THE FUNNIEST THING THAT EVER HAPPENED IN THE **WHOOOOLLLEE WOOOORRRLLLLDDD!**! **!** "

While exclaiming, Gina UNZIPPED her pants, slid her finger into her pants and starting waving her finger left and right, much to everyone's shock and disgust.

Nate felt like something was gonna happen, so he quickly hides his scissors away and continues to watch Gina go berserk and thought to himself:

 _I created a monster. Way to go, Nate. Way to go._

While wondering to himself, Nate then sees someone walking quietly into the lunchroom, wondering what the commotion is about.

It was Principal Nichols.

And to make it more interesting, no one else noticed the principal. Not _one._

"I'M NAAAAAAATTE! I WANT ATTENTION! WOOGIE WOOGIE WOOGIE WOOGIE WOOGIE! I'M NATE! I'MMMMM NATE! WING NING NING NING NING NING NING NING NING NI-" Gina continued to go berserk, then she gets interrupted by Principal Nichols, who shouts:

"Gina Hemphill-Toms!"

Gina immediately stops and turns to the shouter and gasps.

"Principal Nichols!"

"Alright, that's it! You're coming with me!" Principal Nichols angrily hisses to Gina and heads straight towards her.

"No what?" Gina cried as she immediately zippered her pants.

Principal Nichols then grabs Gina's arm so she wouldn't break free and leads her out of the lunchroom as Gina desperately tries to tell Principal Nichols about Nate.

"No! No no no no! No, it was Nate! It was Nate, Principal Nichols! No! Nate!"

Unfortunately for Gina, Nate did not come forward to confirm the truth. He did absolutely nothing but watch as Gina was dragged away by the principal. Gina was the thorn in Nate's back that wouldn't go away for too long, and Nate thought it was time to get rid of the thorn. For good.

"Nyyyyyahhhh! It was NaaaaAAAaaate! IT WAS NATE! **IT WAS** **NAAAAAAAAAATE!**! **!**! **!** " Gina screamed before being lead out of the lunchroom.

And the lunchroom stayed silent and still, not even making a _single_ move. Then everyone looked at Nate, who immediately put down the scissors and waited for everyone to react to Nate getting rid of Gina.

Silence for a few seconds. Then…the lunchroom exploded with cheers and excitement. And everyone got up and went over to Nate and began cheering:

"Nate! Nate! Nate! Nate! Nate!"

Even Randy was impressed enough he nodded to his friends and went over to Nate and slowly lifted Nate in the air. Randy's friends went over and helped Randy too.

Nate was excited. He stood up to Gina. He won.

But the only who wasn't excited was Nate's ex-friends.

Soon, lunch came to an end. And Nate still felt pretty good for himself. Soon it will be gym class so Nate began heading that way.

Randy was heading down to gym the exact same way when Nate's ex-friends approached him.

"Hey, Randy!" Teddy hollers to Randy.

Randy turned around and replied with a smirk:

"Well, well if it isn't Nate's ex-friend tattle-tellers? What's up?"

"Alright, Randy. What did you do to Nate that made him turn against us?" Dee Dee angrily demanded.

" _Me?_ I didn't do anything wrong," Randy replied back.

"Don't EVER lie to us, Randy. We know you did SOMETHING to Nate, so start talking!" Francis demanded.

"Still no involvement. Nate _came_ to ME about what you did to him yesterday. He wasn't happy with that little game you pulled off on him."

"Is that why you two were hugging this morning? You guys are best friends now?" Teddy asks coldly.

"Yup. I understand him more than you three COMBINED," Randy replied with a smirk.

The word 'COMBINED' echoed in Dee Dee's mind. Now she was starting to feel Nate's anger but somehow she wondered whether she did the right thing by not talking to Nate unless he settled down.

So after a brief moment, Dee Dee opens her mouth and asks:

"Did you have any involvement with Nate?"

"No I did-" Randy started but got cut off by Dee Dee.

"Did you HAVE any involvement with Nate?"

Dee Dee just wanted to hear the word 'yes' come out of Randy's mouth so she could report him and shut down the problem as it was getting out of hand.

That's when a voice comes in.

"No, he DIDN'T."

It was Nate.

Everyone turned to Nate and Francis asks:

"What's WITH you today, Nate?"

"What do you mean?" Nate responds.

"You tased Gina in social studies (which I'll give you points for that), turned away the opportunity to ask Ruby out, had everyone turn against us, and you got Gina caught during a hoedown and be lead away by the principal (which was GOLD, by the way). What's the problem?"

"Well, Einstein, I am THIS CLOSE to getting expelled by Principal Nichols," Nate replied by having his two fingers a quarter inch from each other. Then Nate finished his sentence:

"And the last thing I want is more trouble so I get kicked out of school. For good."

Francis simply shook his head and says:

"We're already aware of that...but why would you skip the mud bowl practice for good?"

"Yeah, we can't beat Jefferson without a full team," Teddy chimed in.

Jefferson Middle School was P.S 38's arch-rival. They're just about good as everything in sports, dance contests, whatever. But unfortunately, P.S 38 suddenly broke the 7-year record from Jefferson by challenging them at a snow sculpture contest and winning too. But unfortunately for P.S 38, Jefferson stills the record of winning the Mud Bowl for THIRTY-SIX YEARS. And because of Nate dropping out of participation from the Mud Bowl, Jefferson could get the THIRTY-SEVENTH YEAR, **AGAIN.**

Anyway…

"Didn't I terminate my friendship with you guys anyway?" Nate asked.

No answer.

"L...look. I don't know WHAT you're going through right now, Nate, but...but can you at _least_ show up to practice so we can win against Jefferson?" Dee Dee asked Nate with mixtures of anger and desperation in her voice.

"Is that a good reason why I shouldn't leave you on the sinking ship?" Nate responds quietly.

Dee Dee nodded.

"Fine. I'll come," Nate sighs.

"And you can have your new friend join if you want."

"Great idea," Nate replied with a casual smile on his face.

Then Dee Dee cleared her throat and hisses to Nate:

"Just do us all a favor and get your shit together and get your head out of the ass... before Jefferson takes the 37th year in the mud bowl!"

Then Dee Dee walked away close to crying. Francis and Teddy looked at Nate for a bit but didn't say anything. Then they shake their heads and began to walk away, catching up to Dee Dee in the process.

Nate turns to Randy, who said:

"Thank you."

Nate nodded then sighs.

"You gonna be alright?" Randy asks.

"Yeah, I never needed them, anyway. Who needs them?" Nate responds.

Randy shrugged then said:

"Come on. Let's get to the gym."

"Right."

Elsewhere, Gina was led to the car by her parents. She tried to explain what really happened, but she couldn't because her parents wouldn't listen to her. As Gina was being driven home, another car came from behind and…

BANG! BANG BANG!

Turned out an unknown individual pulled out a gun and fired at the car. One hit the tires, the other two hit Gina's father, killing him instantly and causing the car to crash and Gina losing conscious for a few moments.

"Oh...my head. Wha...what happened?"

Then Gina heard something click. She looked up slowly and saw a man with brown hair, blue eyes and a slight mustache pointing a gun at her head.

"Don't move," the man said.

Gina sighed and said:

"If you're gonna do it, go ahead. I'm already in big trouble."

Silence. Then…

"What did you do?" the man asked.

"I've tried to get back at a student, but got caught in the process," Gina responded.

"I see...If you want to strike back, then join me and we will topple your enemies for good."

"You mean that?"

"I do mean that."

Gina didn't answer immediately, then she heard a voice crying out for help.

It was Gina's mom.

"Help...me…" she cried out.

Gina didn't want to kill her mom but she knew if she tried to help her mom, she would get killed by the assassin.

Then something clicked.

It was revenge.

Hot-boiling revenge.

Gina thought about Nate and all the things he said and did to her that made her mad. And the more she thought about it, the more she agreed to accept the assassin's offer to join.

So Gina took the gun from the assassin and went up to her mother and-

BANG! BANG BANG!

Gina Hemphill-Toms committed her first murder.

"Good. Wonderful!" said the assassin in delight.

"Thank you," Gina replied with a sinister smirk on her face.

"I'm Jason Evans," the assassin introduced himself.

"I'm Gina Hemphill-Toms," Gina responded.

"So tell me. What got you into this mess?"

"Nate Wright. He's a classmate that got me here. He has spiky hair, a blue-yellow shirt, and draws comics a lot."

"I see. Now tell me, where do I find him?"

"School is going on. I think he's there as of right now."

"Okay, what time should we get him?"

"Soon...very soon," Gina replied with an evil grin on her face.

 _You just wait, Nate Wright. You will pay for what you did to me._ Gina thought to herself.

Revenge was about to strike.

* Uh oh. What will happen next? Stayed tuned for more chapters of 'The California Plan'.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: Nate and Randy vs Coach John

Happiness.

That's how Nate felt while making his way towards Gym class. He never got bored of his rising popularity from other people.

But unfortunately, Nate had to cut that to an end when Gym class began and Coach John is the teacher on Thursday (Coach Calhoun, the other gym teacher, teaches gym on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, while Coach John substitutes on Tuesdays and Thursdays) and blew the whistle.

"Attention, troops! Line up for Jazzercise!" Coach John bellows to the class.

Everyone groaned.

"Oh, come on! We want to do basketball! Plus, aren't you supposed to be on treatment for 'chronic flatulence' or whatever you call it?" Randy protests.

"I am perfectly fine _,_ " Coach John assured while suddenly farting very loudly.

"Eeeeeeeeeeewwwwwwwww!" The class reacted (mostly girls) in disgust.

"No, you're not," Nate replied back to his teacher.

"I AM, SOLDIER! NOW LINE UP!" Coach John roars back.

Nate complied.

Moments later, a song began playing while everyone began jazzercising. Minutes pass, and everyone began getting tired already.

Even Nate was tired (no, not tired, just tired of Jazzercise), so Nate stood up to his teacher and-

" **Ahem!** We don't want to do Jazzercise, we want to do BASKETBALL!"

That got everyone's attention. Even from Coach John.

"What was THAT?" Coach John responds with rage in his tone.

"You heard me," Nate replied.

"Haven't you tried to stand up to me before and it worked out for you?"

"If I do it once, I can do it again!"

Several classmates cheered.

"No way! I'm not letting you win again!" Coach John responds.

"Watch it, jerk!" Nate replied then suddenly regretted what he just said, but much to Nate's surprise, Coach John replied back with-

"Shut up, idiot!"

"Moron!" Nate quickly responded.

"Scab eater!" Coach John responded back.

"Butt sniffer!"

"Fart smeller!"

Nate couldn't respond to that insult because that's actually true at the moment. Then Coach John went on to insult Nate with-

"You eat dog crap for breakfast, geek! And you like it!"

Nate couldn't respond to that insult and just when all hope is lost, Randy steps in and insults Coach John with this insult:

"You substitute Gym like a _GIRRRRLLL!_ "

Stunned silence.

Nate turned to Randy in surprise.

"What did you say?" Nate asks in shock.

"You heard me," Randy replied.

"Um, you do realize about half this class is _girls,_ while your _dream girl_ is present, right?" Nate asks dryly.

Randy turned and looked. Nate was right: About HALF the gym class was girls while Ruby was _ESPECIALLY_ present.

Randy couldn't help but chuckle nervously.

"N...not YOU! I meant...ummmm…" Randy started but Nate finished the sentence.

"Gina Hemphill-Toms?"

"Yeah, that one...right?" Randy asks the crowd.

No one answered. Then...

"Oh, okay!" Coach John responds sarcastically. "I'll be right back. I got something for you two!"

Coach John leaves momentarily. While this was happening, Nate turns to Randy and says:

"I don't know WHAT Coach John has in store for both of us, but in case if we don't make it out, there's something I have to tell you."

"What is it?" Randy asks, not even looking at Nate.

"...I've always loved you," Nate confessed.

Randy turned his head to Nate in shock.

"So, after all, what we have been through, you confess that you _love_ me?" Randy asks in shock.

"As a friend," Nate replied back.

And the crowd went:

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaawwwwwwwww!"

Coach John came back with a basketball and says to Nate and Randy with a smirk:

"I'll be HAPPY to let you play basketball if you two do something for ME!"

"Make a basket from mid-court, backward, and with our eyes closed?" Nate answers automatically.

"Not quite," Coach John responds.

Dee Dee turned to Ruby and whispered:

"Nate actually did that the one time and he ACTUALLY made a basket."

"Wow. Though I am still wondering why Nate would reject me," Ruby whispered back.

"Don't give up yet. I'm suddenly wondering what Nate whispered in Mrs. Godfrey's ear that spared him from trouble," Dee Dee replied quietly.

Ruby nodded.

"I want to play against you two. The team who gets 10 points before the other team wins," Coach John explained to Nate and Randy.

"And if the other team loses?" Nate asks.

"Then you two will be jazzercising for the rest of the school year!" Coach John responds with sarcasm.

"Oh dear. What have we done?" Randy replies in shock.

"Let's begin!" Coach John announced the three made their way to the center of the court.

Moments pass, then Coach John throws the basketball in the air and…

"Got it!" Randy exclaimed, getting the ball before Coach John does and proceeded to dribble the ball to the basketball goal and making a basket.

The crowd cheered.

Coach John fumed. He knew he was gonna have to get back at the boys at some point… to which he did when he got the ball and dribbled to the basketball goal and made a basket.

But unfortunately, no one cheered much as they did to Nate and Randy.

Coach John turned to the crowd and asked _very_ politely:

"Would you all like to run around the gym court until you all puke?"

That got someone to quickly say in response:

"Coach John, Coach John! He's our man! He's our much! If he can do it... _GREAT!_ "

Coach John smiled.

"Thank you," he says before the game resumed.

And it was back and forth, back in forth for both teams. Nate and Randy scored points. Coach John scored points too. And the game was getting _intense._ It wasn't long until Coach John began to show signs of exhaustion and sweat all over and looked like he was about to pass out.

The game was tied up, 9-9 Nate and Randy were getting tired of playing basketball but they knew that if they lost, they would _NEVER_ get to hear the end of Coach John's possible victory and JAZZERCISE for both boys. So they kept their heads together and prepared to play defense against Coach John as he dribbled the ball, but the two noticed that Coach John was about to collapse on the basketball court.

Coach John tossed the ball to the goal but didn't make it. Randy got the ball and quickly tossed it to Nate saying:

"Go! _GO!"_

Nate nodded and made his way to the basketball goal. And just as Coach John was catching up, he trips and falls face-flat on the court while Nate makes the last point for the win making everyone go in shock:

"Ooooooooooohhhhhhhhhh."

Nate and Randy were the ones that rushed to Coach John on the ground first. Then everyone else crowded over with the boys. Nate pushed Coach John's body over to see if their gym teacher is conscious.

He wasn't.

"Is he...dead?" Someone asks.

Coach John looked like he wasn't breathing. Then Nate turns to one of his students and orders:

"Go get help. Now."

The student nodded and ran out of the class for help. Nate then turned back to Coach John's unconscious body and put his ear to the gym teacher's chest to feel any possible heartbeats. Nate then pushed his hand on Coach John's Chest several times.

Still no response.

Everyone was beginning to freak out a bit since they feel like someone is about to die.

"I'm going to have to breathe some life into Coach John," Nate announced to the rest of his classmates.

"By how?" Randy asks.

"Well, watch and learn, young grasshoppers," Nate replied before putting his mouth to Coach John's, much to everyone's disgust.

"I know. I just don't have any reviving material, so I'm gonna have to go the old-fashioned way," Nate explained to the class before sticking his mouth back to Coach John's mouth.

Little did Nate knew that this would be the biggest mistake of his life.

Coach John was in the middle of a dream where he was fighting an evil wizard along with a fire-breathing dragon. When he was finished, he rescues a beautiful princess who exclaims:

"My hero! How can I EVER repay you?"

"Anyway possible," Coach John replied with a sweet smile on his face.

After a few moments, the princess begins to lean into Coach John in preparation for a kiss. Coach John was doing the exact same thing. The two then kiss then all of the sudden-

"EEEEEEEEEEEWWWWWWWWW!"

At first, Coach John assumed that while he and the princess were kissing, Coach John's allies were grossed out at the two kissing.

That's when Coach John opened his eyes slowly then popped wide open to see Nate looking all grossed out by Coach John kissing him.

Then Coach John pushed Nate away quickly in disgust. The then begin spitting out any possible kisses then looked at each other for a bit then exclaimed:

"EEEWWW!"

Nate got up slowly with the help from Randy while Coach John began feeling so sick from the game (and the kiss) and began to gag like crazy.

Nate noticed and asked:

"You okay, Coach?"

Before Coach John can respond, puke made its way in Coach John's mouth and-

"BLLLAAARRRRRRFFFFF!" Coach John puked

And the class reacted in disgust:

"EEEEEEEEEEEWWWWWWWWW!"

"Well, at least he's okay," Nate mumbled, trying to look away from the nasty sight Coach John was displaying.

Help came and Coach John was lead out of the gym while the class was also ushered out of the class too. Mr. Jenkins the janitor came and began cleaning up the puke that Coach John left behind. With Coach John absent now, Mrs. Czerwicki volunteered to substitute for the rest of the class time.

Randy went up to Nate and whispered:

"Hey, good job today. You're dominating the day. You should be proud."

"Thanks," Nate replied back.

Nate felt pretty good for himself for standing up to Coach John and Gina today. He no longer cared about starting a relationship with Ruby and began to focus more on today.

But Dee Dee was getting more suspicious of Nate because of what he whispered in Mrs. Godfrey's ear that spared him from trouble. So she waited for the right moment to catch Nate and ask what his real deal is.

" _I'll probably wait after school. One way or another, I'm going to find out what Nate is really up to today,"_ she thought.

Elsewhere, Coach John slowly made his way to his car and got in, started the car and began to drive back home.

That's when Coach John was about to get ambushed.

And he did.

Gunshots erupted to Coach John's car and several bullets his Coach John in the neck, face, and head and caused the car to crash into ongoing traffic. Coach John never made it out alive.

He was dead.

"Good job," Jason the assassin complemented to Gina, who was the one that killed Coach John.

"Thank you, thank you. Just wait, Nate. I will turn your life into a living hell and you will wish you were never born," Gina replied before vowing revenge on Nate and began laughing like a crazed maniac.

Jason chimed in too or looked like he did. He wasn't laughing as much as Gina was. Jason's laughter sounded a bit too fake and pretended to be evil.

Gina noticed this and leaned into Jason and waited until he stopped laughing but somehow managed to stop laughing abruptly when he noticed Gina leaning towards him.

"It only works when **I** do it," Gina said to Jason, with narrowed eyes.

"Oh, okay. Sorry," Jason responded.

"Thank you," Gina replied before turning back to the subject of revenge on Nate.

" _I can see me now…"_ she thought to herself.

*Another chapter down, more to go! Leave a comment on this chapter and I'll be back soon. ;)*


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: Truth and Standoffs

Nate felt pretty proud of himself. He stood up to Coach John and won (again).

Not to mention that math class went by pretty quickly, mainly because Nate laughed along with Mr. Staples' jokes, much to his ex-friends' dismay and annoyance.

Then Science class came.

Mr. Galvin was in the middle of instructions on the upcoming field trip next week.

"Remember kids: we are NOT going to the museum to goof off, we are going there to LEARN," Mr. Galvin told to the class.

The class groaned. Nate cheered.

"YAAAAAYYY!"

Everyone looked at Nate like crazy. So did Mr. Galvin.

"Umm, Nate...why is that exactly a good thing?" Chad asks in confusion.

"Because I'm trying to make any negative situation and make it a positive outcome or occasion!" Nate replied with glee.

Mr. Galvin looked at Nate for a bit then straightened up a bit and placed his hands on his face buried in it for a moment or two, then asked Nate:

"What in the heaven's name are you talking about?"

"...well, the museum sounds like an interesting place to go to and I can't wait to see what they have there! Oh! They might have all KINDS of fossils or rocks there! I can't wait!" Nate responded.

Everyone stared at Nate.

"...you're such a _jerk_ ," Dee Dee responded with shock and disgust.

"...anyway, back to the instructions. Once we are at the museum, you will be assigned with a partner. Be sure to have the worksheet that the answers have at the museum done by the time it's time to go," Mr. Galvin announced.

After the official announcement, Mr. Galvin then assigned lab partners to the class. And you would probably guess who Nate gets assigned to.

Yup, you guessed it: It's Kim Cressly. The girl that Gina insulted earlier. Not to mention, she's a big girl and has a HUGE crush on Nate. And she made Nate ESPECIALLY uncomfortable.

"When you are done, I'm ready to cuddle," Kim said to Nate in her normal mode as if nothing happened.

"Ummm...no thanks. I have no intention of getting together. Sorry," Nate replied back.

"Let's cuddle. NOW!" Kim ordered rudely.

Nate didn't want to be bothered right now by Kim, but he had to comply with Kim's request.

And Nate did (much to his own uncomfortably).

Randy saw his new best friend getting all the unwanted attention from a fat girl that is like a thorn a the back that wouldn't go away. So without anyone looking, Randy got up, went walking up to Kim's stool while acting like he was tripping, and-

 _Trip! CRASH!_

Kim immediately burst into tears. And Mr. Galvin rushed over to Kim, helped her up and said:

"Hang on. I'll get you to the doctor."

"My arm! MY ARM!" Kim bawled her eyes out.

Mr. Galvin led Kim out of the classroom as everyone else looked on in shocked silence.

Randy helped Nate up.

"You ok?" Randy asks.

"Yeah," Nate replied.

Nobody said a word to each other until Mr. Galvin came back a few minutes later.

"Sorry about that, guys. I don't know WHAT happened, but would someone like to tell me?" Mr. Galvin asked the class.

"I saw the whole thing," says a voice.

It was Dee Dee, who had ENOUGH of Randy for one day.

"It was NO accident either. Randy purposely tripped on Kim's stool to make her fall," she said to Mr. Galvin.

Mr. Galvin was angered by this. He turned to Randy and asked:

"Is this true?"

"Nnnnnnnnooooo," Randy replied.

"Yes, he did. I actually saw him too," Francis chimed into the argument.

"Oh dear," Randy muttered.

Mr. Galvin was furious now.

"How dare you would do such a thing! I might have to take you to the principal now on what I heard!" Mr. Galvin angrily told to Randy.

"Well, she was a pretty big fat girl, to be honest," Nate jokingly replied.

Everyone stared at Nate.

Randy burst into laughter (think of it like from one of the hodgetwins kindergarten videos (the one from 2015)).

"Oh, man! That was RICH!" Randy said while pulling himself back together.

Someone cleared their throat.

It was Mr. Galvin. And he did NOT look happy.

"Mind telling me what's going on here?" he asks Nate.

All eyes then fell on Nate.

"Nothing," Nate replied quietly.

"Talk!" Mr. Galvin demanded.

"I'm good."

"You wanna end up like Randy?"

"N..noo."

Mr. Galvin looked at Nate long and hard then noticed something:

A single tear was sliding down Nate's cheek.

"...what's wrong?" Mr. Galvin asks in concern.

"Just some sweat in my eyes," Nate replied with his voice shaky while wiping his face.

Mr. Galvin also noticed this too.

" _What's wrong?"_ Mr. Galvin asked once more.

Silence. Nate knew it was time to let the truth out so he replied weakly and quietly:

"...I'm...I'm moving."

"Forgive me, Nate, but not everyone can hear you. So speak louder," Mr. Galvin requested.

"...I'm...I'm moving," Nate spoke louder and this time, everyone heard.

"To where I may ask?" Mr. Galvin asked.

"To...to California," Nate responded.

"Aaaahhhhhh. I see. Is that why you're herky-jerky?" Mr. Galvin asked.

Nate nodded.

Mr. Galvin nodded too.

"May I ask why?" Mr. Galvin asks again.

"Because...my...dad is looking for a job…" Nate started.

"And?"

"..and to no avail. Feel to ask my dad. He would probably tell you this himself."

Mr. Galvin looked at Nate like crazy and looked at all the tears pouring down his cheeks.

"I was just ASKING. You don't have to bite my head off," he quietly says to Nate.

"I never bite anyone's head off…" Nate started.

"Come on! How dare you-" Mr. Galvin started too but got cut off by Nate snapping back:

"HOW DARE **I?** HOW DARE **YOU**!"

Silence again.

Mr. Galvin looked at Nate in shock. Nate then looked at the class. Everyone was stunned. No one said a WORD to Nate or each other.

Nate also saw his ex-friends.

Francis was in shock.

Teddy was in shock.

Chad was in shock.

Dee Dee was in shock.

Randy was in shock.

Jenny was in shock.

Artur was in shock.

Even RUBY was in shock.

Nate looked at Mr. Galvin again then fumed his breath from his nostrils then began to walk out of the classroom.

"Where are you going? Nate, come back here, please!" Mr. Galvin demanded.

But Nate didn't listen. He attempted to walk out but got blocked by Mr. Galvin, who asked:

"Excuse me, but did I say that you could leave?"

"I just want to be alone right now," Nate replied back.

"Can it wait until school ends and then you can be alone?"

Nate knew he was about to lose the argument, so he gave up anyway.

"...yes sir," Nate replied and headed to the table and sat on a stool alone, while Mr. Galvin turned his attention to Randy and said:

"Young man, you are going to come along with me."

Then Mr. Galvin lead Randy out of the classroom while the class looked on in silence.

Then Jenny slowly got up and made her way towards Nate and started a conversation:

"Nate, are you okay?"

Nate had tears pouring down his cheeks pretty badly, but did give a response:

"Now you know why I'm acting like a jerk today. And you don't have to apologize, because I'M the one who needs to be sorry here."

Jenny felt pretty bad for Nate AND herself, so she got closer, but Nate immediately put a stop to it by saying:

"Two things. One: I want to be alone so please don't come any closer. And two: your boyfriend is looking at us."

It was true. Artur IS looking at Nate and Jenny, while Nate was doing everything he can to not make Jenny look like she was cheating on Artur.

"Oh, true..." Jenny replied.

Then Jenny left Nate alone, abiding with his request.

But little did Nate knew he was about to get ambushed.

And he did.

The door opened, and there stood Jason and Gina, who happened to have Randy, along with…

"Is that Kim Cressly?" Nate asks pointing at the decapitated head of Kim.

"Sure was. You're not in love with her, are you?" Jason asked.

"...no...no," Nate replied.

"That's the kid I was telling you about," Gina whispered to Jason.

Jason nodded.

Nate began to shake uncontrollably, along with the whole class, who looked on with shock and scaredness.

"Wha...what is this?" Nate asks worryingly.

"Payback," Gina replied with an evil grin on her face.

"Ok...maybe… maybe I wasn't nice when I should have. But Gina...you're really gonna _kill_ me?" Nate asks beginning to fret.

" _Not yet._ That's one thing. Two: just think of it as you're being let go, that your life is going down in different direction. That your life is about to go down the drain for good," Gina responded while smirking.

"It was all a misunderstanding... _right?_ I mean, we were just playing around…"

"We WERE… until I got caught and you didn't come in to intervene. That's why I want payback."

"You...you probably want a settlement. Name your price! It's yours!"

"I just want my revenge, and that's it!"

"I can't believe this is happening!"

"Then I bet you weren't expecting THIS!" Gina replied while pulling up one of her pant legs for Nate to see.

Nate looked agonized looking at Gina's leg, along with the class and cried out in disgust.

That's when Gina pulled her pant leg up even FARTHER, but thankfully…

"Ah-ha!" Gina exclaimed while showing her knife to Nate.

Nate and the class sighed in relief.

"Okay," Nate replied with a thankful smile on his face.

Gina snickered.

"You wanna know why I have this knife? Because I'm about out of bullets, that's why!" Gina smirked holding the knife to Nate's neck.

"What did you do?" Nate asks.

"I did what should've been done long ago," Gina replied.

"You killed Kim?"

"Yup. Sure did."

"And Kim isn't the only one who fell victim to me and Jason," Gina chimed in.

"Who...who else did you kill?" Nate asks in shock.

"My parents, Coach John, the lunchroom ladies, Mrs. Godfrey, Mr. Staples, Chester Budrick, Mr. Galvin…" Gina counted the people she killed.

"You wouldn't dare!" Nate hissed.

"I do dare. Especially Kim Cressly," Gina finished with an evil grin on her face.

"Soon, very soon, your friends and family will suffer the way you made Gina suffer," Jason chimed.

"Then, after that, we will KILL you!" Gina finished.

Nate's heart sank. The thought of losing of everyone he loves made him _sick._ Even the entire room began to panic.

Then Gina began slowly advancing onto Randy, who looked terrified as ever.

Nate tried to stop Gina but was stopped by Jason.

"I don't think so," Jason said with a smirk.

"Everyone, RUN! Run so that Gina-" Nate started but his mouth was covered by Jason.

Nate knew he made a big mistake. So he closed his eyes, imagining the fire of the bullets showering down on his friends.

 _Click!_

Nothing happened.

Gina checked her gun. It was empty of bullets.

Nate felt relieved and kicked Jason in the guts and lunged for Gina.

A fight broke out and Gina was getting the upper hand on Nate.

Nate knew this was the end.

The end of HIM.

That's when Jason got a hold of Nate and leveled him down to Gina's level.

"He's all yours, Gina," Jason said to Gina.

Gina smirked with a hint of smug on her sinister face then pulled out a loaded gun and put it to Nate's head.

"After I'm done with you and your friends, I'll pay a polite visit to your family," Gina said to Nate with evil and venom in her tone.

"No! Please! PLEASE!" Nate screamed so hard that everyone can hear it.

"Any last words?" Gina asked.

"Let him go!" demands a voice.

Gina turned to the source of the sound only to get kicked in the guts by Randy causing her to fire her gun.

Though Nate wasn't the one to get shot, it was…

"Jason!" Gina screamed in shock when she pulled herself back together and looked on at Jason, whose head just got shot at by Gina (unintentionally) and fell to the ground cold.

But neither Nate or Randy gave Gina any opportunity to defend herself because Nate then snatched the gun from Gina while Randy tackled Gina to the ground and kept her to the ground with a few students offering to keep Gina down until help arrived.

Nate then gently put the gun aside and looked at Jason.

He was dead.

Nate slowly fell on his knees and began to cry.

" _What have I done? What have I done?"_ Nate thought to himself.

Ruby wanted to comfort Nate, but she knew he didn't want her around him right now so she leaned over to Dee Dee and whispered:

"At least we now know what Nate was going through right now, but let's just give him a few days, please?"

"Good call," Dee Dee whispered back.

*Man, that was brutal! What will happen next? Stayed tuned for more chapters! Comment on what you think of this chapter! See you soon. ;)


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7: A walk with Ruby

Police cars flooded the area of PS 38 and students and teachers were led out by officers while some of them took a struggling and screaming Gina to one of the police cars.

"It was Nate, officers! It was Nate! I'll get you, Nate, if it's the last thing I do!" Gina screamed as she put into one of the police cars.

And sooner or later, parents were called and came to pick up their grief-stricken and shaken children to their cars while other parents and other people who lost their loved ones were bawling very loudly.

And that shook Nate to the core while he was being led to police to have a conversation about what happened and why it happened. Randy was also being led to the police to have the same talk.

The conversion lasted about 8-15 minutes. Nate and Randy explained everything about Gina and the pranks against Nate and Gina and what happened during the chaos.

The police considered arresting the boys (which shook the boys so badly, they started crying), especially when Nate recognized one of the officers from the mall when the officer caught Nate using the intercom, but let them go after learning the heroism from the boys when they took down Gina. But unfortunately, the boys were lead off with a warning: should the two get into trouble again, the charges will be considered, no matter who's involved and how bad the trouble is.

A vigil was held later several days later. Friends, family, everyone one went.

 _"This is all my fault,"_ Nate thought to himself as a single tear went down his face. Nate tried to ignore the upset feeling in his stomach and eye contact to his ex-friends.

 _"Something has to be done. We cannot go down this route anymore,"_ Dee Dee thought.

Several more days later...

"Nate, are you _ever_ going to come out?" Martin called to Nate from the kitchen.

Ever since the PS 38 shooting, Nate stayed in his room for most of the time (with the exception of bathrooms, breakfast, lunch, dinner) and refused to leave his room. And it really got into Martin's nerves, especially when he learned about the taser part.

Martin had enough of Nate being in his room all the time, so he marched to Nate's room and hustled Nate to put on his clothes, and get out of the house for a while, much to Nate's dismay.

"But Dad, I don't want to show my face out there! People would recognize me for what I did to Gina and-" Nate started.

"It's not your fault. Just relax and go get some fresh air," Martin interrupted Nate before kicking him out of the house.

Nate tried to get back inside the house, but the door was locked on purpose to keep Nate from getting back in. After a few moments, Nate let out a huge sigh and began to wonder what to do next, so he headed to the city park and sat on a bench for awhile.

That's when a mean voice comes in:

"What's wrong, Mopey Pants? You just sittin' around and doing absolutely nothing?"

Nate turned to see who it was and it was...

 _"Nolan?"_

Nolan is a student at Jefferson Middle School and an enemy to Nate and his friends. He was always good at basketball, soccer, concerts, whatever. He's a bully and he's not exactly driving the helping wagon, either.

"Heard your school got canceled. Gotta say, I'm not too bothered by that," Nolan smirked.

"L...look, I don't want trouble. Not today," Nate said back politely.

"Yeah, I know. But the mud bowl is coming up soon and we are going to DESTROY you and your team," Nolan said, poking at Nate's chest.

"Like the time at the snow down? Sorry to say, but you _cheated,_ " Nate responded.

The snow down was a competition on which team can build a better ice sculpture than the other. PS 38 won, angered Jefferson, breaking the 7-year streak against PS 38.

Anyway, Nolan was outraged when Nate mentioned this.

"Actually, I changed my mind. I'm not going to destroy you at the mud bowl, I'm going to destroy you NOW! This is gonna hurt, a lot, and this will be quick too, so say a prayer!" Nolan hissed, grabbing Nate's shirt and pulling up to his level and making direct eye contact.

Just as it was about to end very ugly for Nate...

"Hey! Put him down!" orders a voice.

It was Ruby with an angered look on her face, which Nate has never seen before. Most of the time, Ruby seemed to be a very nice girl who can hardly get mad at anybody, but hey, there's the first time for everything...right?

"Why should I care?" Nolan asks.

"Do the math, pinhead. It's only you against two of us," Nate chimes in.

After a few moments, Nolan sets Nate down and begins walking away saying:

"Two against one. _Real fair_. You know what? It doesn't matter. We'll settle this at the mud bowl! See you later chumps! You too look like they deserve each other!"

After Nolan disappears, Nate turns to Ruby and says:

"Thanks."

"Are you okay? He looked like he was about to kill you," Ruby responded with concern.

"I'm okay. See you later."

Nate began to walk away, but that's when he heard it: sniffing.

Nate slowly turned around to see Ruby and noticed a tear sliding down her cheek.

"You are ditching me again, after...after what I have done for you just now?" Ruby said with her voice shaky.

Ruby broke down and sobbed for a bit. Nate felt _REALLY_ guilty now for what he did to Ruby and decided to rebel against leaving her alone and walked back over to Ruby and got her attention by saying:

"I'm not ditching you this time. Never again."

Ruby looked up at Nate for a bit with her face bloodshot from crying.

"Really? Are you really sure?" she asks.

Then Ruby noticed something too: Nate had a single tear sliding down his cheek too.

"I'm really sure, Ruby. Cross my heart," Nate replied.

Ruby began to feel better and a few short moments later, she smiled in relief.

"Good," she replies and wrapped her arms around Nate in a hug, which Nate feel better also.

"Do you want to take a walk with me, like normal couples would do?" Ruby asked after finishing hugging Nate.

"Um...Sure. I don't see why not," Nate replied.

And the two went for a walk and talked about how Nate got & 7 detentions in one school day...

"...and I broke down laughing right after I saw my favorite pen ooze on Mr. Galvin's chest," Nate told to Ruby, who giggled while reacting to Nate's story.

...how he got Randy to detention...

"...and Randy comes dashing to the table that Chad and I were carrying to the lunchroom and tried to pin the blame on me, but Ms. Clarke sent him detention," Nate told to Ruby who slightly chuckles.

"What a moron," Ruby responded.

...won fleece ball against Randy...

"...and Gina smacked the ball with her eyes shut and got a home run," Nate to Ruby, who responded with a 'good for her'.

...got Gina her first ever detention...

"...then Gina yells at me in the library and gets caught by Mrs. Hickson and sent to detention," Nate told to Ruby, who slightly giggled.

...winning a skateboard an the Scout's fundraiser ceremony...

"and Artur and I were tied up so a coin had to be flipped, and it landed on heads, which I chose and won!" Nate exclaimed.

"Good job," Ruby complimented to Nate.

"Thank you," Nate replied.

...won in a snow down against Jefferson Middle School...

"and the judges caught Jefferson cheating so they announced that we are the winners!" Nate exclaimed to Ruby again.

"That's great!" Ruby said with ecstatic in her voice.

...winning the trivia slam against Gina...

"..and I said cats to the question and the Factoids won. Oh, did I forget to mention that Gina made a face so hilarious that I took a picture of her?" Nate asked Ruby.

Ruby giggled.

...winning a bet against Marcus the 7th grader...

"...and I volunteered Chad to be in the three-legged race with Maya (Chad's crush), and those two won against Marcus who got humiliated in the process, which destroyed my bad luck," Nate told to Ruby who laughed by this.

...and found an old mural that saved the school.

"...and my team called 'Nate's Non-stoppers found an old mural that was forgotten in time so I showed the principal and he sold it to the museum for a lot of money that saved our school!" Nate exclaimed.

"An amazing discovery, indeed," Ruby nodded with a huge grin on her face.

During the story, Ruby noticed that Nate was laughing, something that she wanted to see when she was sent by Dee Dee to cheer Nate up.

After a while, Ruby got all serious again.

"Nate, can I ask why you would act rudely towards me at school the other day?" she asks Nate.

"Well, it's because of the California pl-" Nate started but Ruby raised her hand up for him to stop.

"Besides that. Sorry to interrupt, by the way," Ruby responded.

"...because Dee Dee wouldn't talk to me when I was angry and upset," Nate replied back.

Ruby nodded and said:

"That's what I was told by your friends. And if it wasn't for the California plan, none of this would be happening. Heck, we would be going out by now."

"True..." Nate nodded.

"Look...can we just date for now and worry about that California situation later?" Ruby asked Nate.

"It's not just the California plan that I'm worried about now, it's what happened at the school that's affecting me," Nate replied.

Ruby nodded sadly then asked:

"You think this would come back to haunt you one day?"

"Absolutely," Nate responded.

Ruby nodded again.

"But you did the right thing to stopping Gina, so that's something. But for now, take a while to relax, okay?" she asked Nate.

"But..but.." Nate started.

"Please, Nate. For me? For your friends? They have forgiven you for what you did to me, just like you would do the same to your friends, right?" Ruby asked looking directly into Nate's eyes.

Nate sighed. He had to stop the conflict sooner or later for Ruby's sake and friends' sake.

"Okay, I'll relax for awhile," Nate replied to Ruby.

Ruby smiled.

"Great. Hopefully, you stay put," she says before, believe or not, her lips met Nate's in a passionate kiss, much to Nate's surprise.

It's almost like Nate finally got his first kiss from his true love for the very first time.

Black hair met brown hair.

Black eyes met blue eyes.

Nate finally found someone who _truly_ understood him.

After Ruby stopped kissing Nate, she looked at him and giggled for a bit, mainly because Nate's cheeks were blushing cherry-red. Not to mention Nate's legs felt like they were made of pudding.

And a few seconds later, Nate fainted in dazed happiness.

Ruby giggled a few more seconds and began to...

Okay, let's hold on that one for now, and turn our attention to Nate's friends, shall we?

Later, Francis and the gang were talking strategy about the mud bowl when Chad was the one to notice Nate first.

"Oh hi, Nate! We are just talking..."

Suddenly, Chad's sentence derailed, because...well, because...

"Is that lipstick?" Randy asks in surprise.

"Yuuuuuuppppp," Nate responded with...well...happiness, is it?

Yeah, it is.

Mainly because Nate's face is covered, and I mean COVERED with lipstick.

Where did he get it, you ask?

From Ruby, of course, who just happened to have fallen in love with Nate all over again after he cheered up and said he would relax for awhile and was blushing and giggling at the same time.

And after that, Nate went to say his sorry to his friends, as they said sorry to Nate back. Nate's friends swore they would never, under any circumstances, mess with Nate again, much to Nate's delight and relief.

But unfortunately, one person wasn't happy that Ruby likes Nate.

And that person is Randy Betancourt.

"Hey, guys! I have an idea! Let's go the Krazy Kone for ice cream to celebrate that Nate's not...wait...Nate, are you still moving?" Teddy asked Nate.

"Possibly," Nate replied, returning to his cruddy mood.

Then out of the corner of his eye, Nate saw Randy walking away.

"Hey, guys. You go on ahead. I'll catch up as soon as I can," Nate said to his friends before catching up to Randy.

"Hey, Randy! Wait up! Going somewhere?" Nate called out to Randy.

"Ruby DEFINITELY likes YOU," Randy replied back while not bothering to look back.

"Guess so," Nate muttered.

"So, put it the gossip column! ' **READ ALL ABOUT IT, EVERYONE! NATE AND RUBY ARE A OFFICIAL COUPLE, WHILE RANDY IS A _SORE_ LOSER!**" Randy replied with sarcasm in his voice, whilst STILL not bothering to look back.

Nate felt bad for Randy and without him, the Bobcats would lose against Jefferson, AGAIN.

So Nate went all out.

"Well I hate to burst your beautiful bubble, but I'm NOT going to do so. Not to mention that I might be moving, _still_ ," Nate hollered to Randy, which actually did the trick by stopping him from walking any farther.

After a few moments, Randy turns around and asks:

"Well, what's stopping you?"

"...because we're teammates, now," Nate responded.

 _"We? WE?_ There is hardly a 'we' between us because we HATE each other SO MUCH," Randy replied back with sarcasm again.

"Not as much as we hate Jefferson Middle School! Want to stick that to Nolan?" Nate asked Randy.

"And WHO is Nolan?" Randy asked.

"A kid from Jefferson," Nate replied.

"Oh yeah. Now I know who you are talking about. Yeah, I'd like that. But they will be tough to beat," Randy responded after a while.

"Then let's meet up with the gang at the Krazy Kone and talk strategy!" Nate urged to Randy.

"Okay," Randy replied before the two made their way to the Krazy Kone when suddenly...

Rumbling...like...

"Thunder," Randy says looking at the sky while a few raindrops fell out of the sky.

"Well, bring it on. This is MUD BOWL weather!" Nate exclaimed.

*Done! Pretty sweet, don't you think? Hope you liked it and (terminator's voice) I'll be back!


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8: The Mud Bowl

It's been raining for forty-eight hours straight.

Tradition says that the Mud Bowl HAS to be played in the rain.

And the thirty-eighth annual Mud Bowl is about to begin.

"It's time to _rumble,_ " Nate announces.

"Look how _sloppy_ it is," Chad says, kicking up a little mud.

"That's sort of the point, Chad," Teddy replied, rolling his eyes.

"Guys! Come on! We got a game to start," Dee Dee calls out to the guys.

It was two teams against each other while both crowds from both schools cheered on:

The P.S 38 Bobcats (Nate, Francis, Teddy, Dee Dee, Chad, Ruby, and Randy) and the Jefferson Cavaliers (Nolan and... I have no idea who the rest of the team is, sorry).

"Wow. They're BIG," Ruby says nervously as the Bobcats take their positions.

"I know," Nate whispered, giving Ruby a quick peck on her cheek, which made her feel better.

"Let's go over defensive assignments. Dee Dee, you cover the girl with the headband. Teddy, take the kid with the buzz cut," Francis announced as he claps his hands.

Nate raises his hand up. "I'll take Nolan."

Francis hesitated for a bit, then says:

"Okay. We'll see how it goes."

That left Nate confused.

 _"What does that mean?"_ Nate thought to himself.

"You ready?" Randy called out to Nolan.

"Yeah! Ready to spank you for the 37TH YEAR IN A ROW!" Nolan calls back, laughing and knowing he will _never_ lose.

"Well, go ahead and try!" Nate called back to Nolan, as Randy heaves the disk toward Jefferson's end zone.

Let the games begin!

Oh, if you _never_ played Ultimate before, here's how the game goes:

The goal is to score points, right? You can do that by getting the disk into the other team's end zone.

But here's the catch:

You can't RUN with the disk. You can only score by throwing and catching...which Jefferson's _REALLY_ good at.

"HA! Score!" Nolan laughed as he caught the disk.

Cavaliers 1, Bobcats 0.

*Quick break from the story as someone steps in*

"Um, Coop?" someone asks.

"Yeah?" I replied.

"...never mind," someone responds back.

"Were you planning to say something?" I ask.

"Um...sure. You're taking out sentences and action from the book, word for word," Someone says to me.

"Um..that's kinda the idea..." I replied quietly.

"Like an adaptation?"

"Yeah."

"Hmm. Okay. Just try to alter the dialogue or action scenes when necessary, or if you have to, okay? You don't want to be smacked with a copyright infringement, do you?"

 _"Noooo..."_ I say in shock.

"..."

"...but, I'll think of something," I say after a few moments of silence passed.

"Okay," Someone says before leaving me with my work again.

 _"I got to be more careful..."_ I thought before continuing the story.

*Back to story*

"Don't worry, gang! We'll get them back!" Dee Dee says to the Bobcats.

But they didn't. Minutes later, it's 3-0 with the Cavaliers ahead.

"Nice try, muddy boy! Be sure to bring a ladder next time," Nolan chuckled to Nate.

"Time out!" Francis called to the referee.

The Bobcats huddle up.

"Let's change up a few things before we lose the 37th year to Jefferson," Francis announces.

He then turns to Randy and says:

"Randy, you're going to cover Nolan."

Randy nodded.

"Wait, _WHAT?_ I'm covering Nolan!" Nate protested.

"And he's scored three times," Francis responded to Nate's protest.

Nate was upset by this, but suddenly he felt something wrapping its arms around Nate.

Or someONE.

It was Ruby.

"It's okay, Nate. He's too tall for you, that's all," Ruby spoke softly to Nate before giving him a soft kiss on his cheek, much to Nate's relief.

"Their whole TEAM is too tall," Teddy pointed out.

"Exactly, which is why YOU have to change the way you throw," Francis nods in agreement before pointing to Randy.

Randy was stunned by this.

"Wait, didn't you guys liked the way I throw?" Randy responded with an upset tone in his voice.

"We do, we do... but so does Jefferson! See how they keep out-jumping us?" Francis replied back.

All Randy could do was let out a sigh. Francis is right. Jefferson IS out-jumping P.S 38, by three points!

"That's because you're throwing it too high! Keep your passes low!" Francis continued but spoke quieter so Jefferson couldn't hear was the Bobcats were talking about.

The game continues with Randy guarding Nolan this time. And Randy was right:

Randy is big enough to break Nolan's scoring streak, and sooner or later, the Bobcats begin chipping away at Jefferson's lead because they are quick and crafty.

Just one tiny issue:

Randy keeps passing the disk to Ruby, but Jefferson manages to get it no time flat, for FOUR STRAIGHT TIMES.

Nate knew he had to do SOMETHING, but what?

Nate then signals to the ref.

"Time out," Nate calls out to the ref.

"Come on guys let's hud-" Francis started but Nate interrupted him by saying:

"It's between me and Randy."

Francis nodded.

Once Nate and Randy were alone, Nate spoke first:

"You're throwing the disk to Ruby a lot."

"And she's a good player. So?" Randy replied.

"But you are passing to her when she's not even OPEN," Nate explained.

"And?" Randy asks back.

"And Jefferson knows it's coming! They've intercepted you four time times already," Nate replied back.

After a few moments...

"Look, I get it. You like Ruby, and paying extra attention to her, because you want her to like you," Nate says quietly to Randy.

"And what do you know about it? You've never liked someone who didn't like you back," Randy replied.

"Uh, HELLO? I spent my life chasing after Jenny and trust me, I know how it feels. It STINKS!" Nate responded to Randy's reply.

Randy couldn't help but nod in agreement.

"Okay. I guess I'm better off without her, thinking that Ruby might like me like crazy and..." he mutters.

"No. Me trying to play defense against Nolan-THAT was crazy. But you can handle him, right? Thanks to you, we might win this thing! Now let's get out there and DO it!" Nate spoke to Randy with encouragement.

The game continues on.

Twice the Bobcats, get a point, twice the Cavaliers get a point.

It was now a tie, 19-19!

Who's gonna win?

The Bobcats, or the Cavaliers?

It was about 20 seconds left in the game as Jefferson gets the disk and toss it to Nolan...

But Nolan made the biggest mistake of his life, and you are probably wondering what was his biggest mistake was:

Nolan DROPPED the disk, much to Jefferson's shock.

Randy takes over the disk and turns to Nate.

"GO! RUN LIKE YOU NEVER MEANT TO!" Randy shouts.

Nate nodded and sprinted up the swampy field with Nolan on his tail.

*You can add any suspenseful song or climatic song if you desire*

Nate looked over his shoulder and saw Randy throw the disk through the heavy rain.

 _"Now's my chance! NOW'S MY CHANCE!"_ Nate thought as his heart pounded like crazy.

Nate knew Nolan is getting closer on his tail, so Nate ran as fast as he could, and as he got close to the disk where the flag was, Nate jumped so far and got the disk, while landing in the mud.

Nolan couldn't get Nate because he tripped first in the mud.

It was all silence for everyone. No one said a word to each other until a hand with a disk rose.

And that hand was from Nate Wright.

Then there were explosions of cheers and excitement from P.S 38.

Randy was the one who came first to embrace Nate in a tight hug. Then along came Francis, Teddy, Chad, Dee Dee (who's know for giving LOTS of hugs), and finally Ruby, who embraced Nate with a warmhearted hug and curled her legs around him (much to Nate's surprise), and gave him a great big kiss on his lips, much to Nate's delight.

P.S 38 did it. They destroyed Jefferson's 36th-year record of winning the Mud Bowl.

A few more days past, word got around that P.S 38 won against Jefferson in the Mud Bowl, and it was mentioned that the event will be mentioned in the newspapers.

Randy decided that he was better off without Ruby, who has gotten into a relationship with Nate, which has blossomed quickly.

So Nate, Ruby, Randy, and the rest of the gang were in the city park, ecstatic about winning the Mud Bowl the other day when a car honked.

It was Nate's dad.

"I'll be right back," Nate said before getting up to go see his dad.

Several minutes later, Nate came back and...well... even I can't describe the mood that Nate's in.

"What's wrong?" Ruby asks with concern.

Nate couldn't respond to Ruby's question.

"Wait...are you moving?" Randy asks in sudden shock on why Nate acted like a jerk in school the other day.

And the only answer Nate could give was:

"Yes."

*Oh NO! I left this chapter on a very sad note! Stayed tuned for what happens next in The California Plan


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9: California Summertime

It felt like being in a tragic movie full of tragedy. It just felt like the days would NEVER end at all. Especially for Nate. And when he told the news to his friends, they were all saddened and upset by the fact that Nate IS moving. Especially for Ruby.

A week slowly passed, and today was moving day. And all week long, Nate's friends have done all they could to cheer Nate up (especially Ruby), to no avail. Examples of cheer ups from Nate's friends were the following:

Francis: "California is FASCINATING meteorologically speaking! The average temperature is..."

Dee Dee: "In a few years, after I become a STAR in Hollywood, we can be neighbors!"

Teddy: "Here's a joke that will cheer you up! A duck walks into a barber shop..."

But no one was able to cheer Nate up. Not even Ruby, who kept reassuring Nate that once she gets done with school and college, "she'll find him" (or whatever that means).

Nate packaged everything in his room and threw away what he didn't really need and put some of his belongings in the family car and some in the moving van and was prepared to leave.

That's when Nate saw...

"Nate!"

It was Ruby. She ran up to Nate and threw herself into his arms for one last hug. Nate hugged back as he felt extremely miserable for a whole week.

"It's good to see you before you leave for California!" Ruby said, knowing that she will have to break up with her sweetheart.

"Good to see you too," Nate replied back.

"Nate!" Another voice exclaims.

It was Francis.

Then Teddy.

Then Chad.

Then Dee Dee.

Then Artur.

Then Jenny.

And Randy.

Everyone wrapped their arms around Nate in a BIG group hug, which Nate feel better.

"So glad you guys came," Nate said.

"And so glad you haven't left town yet," Teddy replied back.

Everyone chuckled.

Then Martin called out to Nate:

"Nate. It's about time to go! Make sure you don't leave anything behind."

"Okay," Nate responded.

Then Martin suddenly gushed with happiness when he saw the group hug:

"Oh, you are bidding goodbye to your friends? Hang on! Let me take a picture of you guys before we leave."

Martin went and got a camera and ordered everyone to take a picture. Normally, Nate really didn't take family pictures, but since it might be the last time that Nate will ever see his friends again, Nate complied with the order.

Everyone had their pictures taken, and after that, it was time to go.

Everyone said their last goodbyes to Nate with Ruby, last but not least, bidding her last goodbye.

Ruby kissed Nate one last time on the lips before she parted with him after whispering:

"I'll find you, once I'm done with school and college."

Nate was touched by this, despite having heard that already and headed towards the family car and getting inside and closing the door.

Nate looked at his friends one last time and waved a final goodbye as a song was announced to be being played on the car radio.

Yup, it was "Say Something" by A Great Big World featuring Christina Aguilera.

And Nate felt like the urge to sing along.

 _Say something, I'm giving up on you_

 _I'll be the one if you want me too_

 _Anywhere I would've followed you_

 _Say something, I'm giving up on you_

Outside of Nate's family car, Ruby felt the exact same feeling as Nate felt. And knowing that she might NEVER see Nate again (despite having promised to find him one day), she started to sing along too.

 _And I... am feeling so small_

 _It was over my head_

 _I know nothing at all_

"Wow, she's got good singing," Teddy whispered.

"Sssshhhh!" Dee Dee whispered back.

 _And I... will stumble and fall_

 _I'm still learning to love_

 _Just starting to crawl_

 _*Both Nate and Ruby sing together*_

 _Say something, I'm giving up on you_

 _I'm sorry that I couldn't get to you_

 _Anywhere I would have followed you_

 _Say something, I'm giving up on you_

 _And I...will swallow my pride_

 _You're the one that I love_

 _And I'm saying goodbye_

 _Say something, I'm giving up on you_

 _And I'm sorry that I couldn't get to you_

 _And anywhere I would have followed you (Oh-Ooh)_

 _Say something, I'm giving up on you_

 _Say something, I'm giving up on you_

 _Say something..._

Nate took a long, last look at his friends. He waved at them, they waved back.

Nate also waved at Ruby one last time. She waved back with a sad look on her face and Nate actually noticed a few tears were slowly pouring down her face. Nate was sad too. He wanted to close his eyes to see that everything that Nate went through was nothing but a bad dream.

But unfortunately, it was not a dream. It was REAL.

The family car then slowing began pulling out of the driveway and Nate was off to California.

"California, here I come," Nate thought miserably.

Speaking of Nate, Ellen was quite upset when she learned that the Wright family is going to have to move to California. She tried (once or twice) to convince Martin to stay with her boyfriend, but Martin said that she was not a legal adult yet, so she HAD to go too.

And the California trip was S-L-O-W.

Along the way, Nate and his family stopped at gas stations, for bathroom breaks, gas refills, whatever. But not fast-food restaurants, because Martin said that they have to wait until they go to California, because, they have lots of surprises.

So wait, they did.

And what felt like days that would never end, the Wright family had finally arrived in California.

And the city they located in was San Francisco.

Seems like a great city to be in, right? Yes. It is known for (a) steep hills, landmarks, not to mention the Golden Gate Bridge, which caught the attention of Nate AND Ellen. Nate thought it was a cool site, so that little detail made Nate feel a little bit better about moving.

Anyway, after a while, the Wright family finally found a place to locate at their home. Seems like a cool house to relocate at, right?

Yes. When the Wright family took a good view for the very first time, they were SURPRISED, or you might as well say STUNNED because the house was AMAZING. Mainly because there were several things that caught the Wright's eyes:

There was a mini gate at the entrance, a little flight of stairs to main door entrance, a chef's kitchen with a breakfast bar, three bedrooms, two bathrooms, and a fireplace!

Nate was ESPECIALLY surprised by everything the new house had, so he began to feel better, a LOT better, and began to let the feeling of now living in California sink into him.

Unfortunately, Ellen was STILL sad that her family had to move, but after eating out at The Cheesecake Factory, she eventually recovered.

After a few days moving into the new home, Nate was watching tv when his dad walked right up to him and asked:

"You're not going to mope around all summer, are you?"

"I don't know, Dad. I just don't have much to do. Plus, I'm trying to get used to this place..." Nate responded.

"Well, find something else to do rather than just moping around all summer, alright? I'm not mad about what you did at P.S 38, but at least try to appease me by going outside and get some air, alright?" Martin responded back before walking away, leaving Nate all by himself in the living room.

Nate let out a LONG sigh, knowing his dad was right, mainly because the fact really was that Nate mostly stayed in his new home ever since moving in, not just because he felt guilt-ridden for his role in the P.S 38, but because Nate had to get used to his new home address, mainly because Nate didn't want to get lost in his new city.

So Nate pulled out notebook paper and a pen and began writing his new comic. It started with an Ultra-Nate comic (Nate's personal favorite) and Nate started to write and draw a few pages in it which included a story similar to Nate's experiences at P.S 38 with Randy as his sidekick defeating Gina and Jason before Ultra-Nate learned the news that HE will have to move to California. This would devastate the hero since he recently got his new crush (Ruby Dinsmore) and will have to leave his hometown behind, which Nate's tears began to pour out slowly.

Nate missed Ruby so much, especially his friends. Finding new friends is going to be pretty difficult, especially in California.

A few knocks were sounded at the front door. Nate went to answer it. He opened the door and there was a woman with black hair and brown eyes.

"You're new to this town?" the woman asked.

Nate nodded.

Then the woman gave Nate something.

It was an invitation card to a birthday.

"Thanks," Nate responded.

The woman nodded and left. Nate closed the door, looking at the card. Just then, Martin came up to Nate and asked:

"Who was that?"

Then Martin's eyes landed on the card. He took it and looked at it.

"Huh. I see. That's cool. Maybe that will get you out of the house for awhile," Martin said with relief as he was worried that Nate might have let in strangers to his home.

All that Nate could do was let out a sigh.

Here's what the card said:

 _You're invited to Simon's 9th birthday party!_

 _Cake! Games! And much, much more!_

 _It's only for two hours don't wait around!_

 _Come over and have fun!_

Nate looked at the card. It's nice going to someone's party. Maybe it will be fun after all.

So Nate got ready to go the party and headed straight to the location of Simon's birthday party. And I know what you're thinking: Why not give out addresses and phone numbers?

Good question.

Maybe it's because I don't want any identity thieves going out and about and stealing people's ID and money or have strangers come to your home on unannounced visits and try to kill you. So I'm censoring addresses unless if I can come up with my own, to which I don't at the moment, I'm not giving out anything on the matter.

Nate made his way to the location of Simon's birthday party and headed to the house and rang the doorbell.

The door opened and the person responded to the door was the woman who gave the card to Nate.

"Hi, and welcome to Simon's birthday! Come on in!" the woman replied.

Nate did so and headed to the main room and there were a few other people there.

So Nate got settled in for a bit and after a few moments, he spotted a boy who looked like Nate's age and had black hair and blue eyes like the woman's and was freaking out for some reason. Nate felt bad for the kid, so he headed over to ask what the problem is.

"You okay?" Nate asked.

The kid noticed.

"Other than posting my dad's ID to Facebook? I'm okay," the kid responded.

Nate's heart smacked the ground. He can imagine what the boy's father would say or do to his son, once he discovered what his son did on social media. So Nate changed the subject by introducing himself to the kid.

"I'm Nate Wright," Nate introduced himself.

"Daniel Johnson. Some people call me DJ," the kid-Daniel-introduced himself back.

"Soooo, how did you post your dad's ID on social media?" Nate asked.

"That was NOT me! Sorry for hissing at you, but I am freaking out here!" Daniel was freaking out more by the minute.

"Then who was it?"

"My brother, Simon."

Nate's heart stopped. AGAIN.

"Simon's your brother?" Nate asked in complete shock.

Daniel nodded.

"What the hell am I gonna do?" Daniel asked in a huge panic.

Nate never heard anyone curse like that, especially Daniel. But yet again, there's always a time for everything.

Just then, the woman-or should I say, Mrs. Johnson- announced to the crowd:

"Hey, everyone! Simon is here!"

Simon arrived and as the birthday candles were lit, everyone sang "Happy Birthday to You" to Simon (except Daniel, who freaking out more by the minute), who then blew out the candles, and then everyone began getting cake. And then Simon began to pressurize Daniel into...um...should we say sing a song for him?

Daniel didn't want to at all, but because of the intense pressure from everyone in the room (minus Nate), he is forced to sing out loud the theme song of "Bob the Builder."

The crowd did cheer, except for Nate, who happened to feel Daniel's pain.

And that is when the door flew open. Everyone turned to the source of the sound. And there stood a man, whose face looked pretty dark-red if you ask me.

"DANIEL!" roared the man.

The room went deadly quiet. All eyes landed on Daniel.

"Is that your dad?" Nate asks.

All that Daniel could do was nod his head.

And knowing that Daniel would likely be killed, Nate immediately stepped in for Daniel.

"He didn't do it! It's not his fault!" Nate protested.

"Then who did it?" Mr. Johnson demanded.

"That's what I want to know," Nate replied back.

Simon tried to look away, but unfortunately for him, his mother noticed what Simon was doing, so she began asking him repeatedly on how he got on Daniel's account and posted Mr. Johnson's ID online. And eventually, Simon admitted responsibility.

"Oooooooookkkkkkkkayyyyyyyyy. It was me," Simon said in defeat.

"How do we get the post down?" Mrs. Johnson demanded to Simon.

"Here's how..." Simon began.

And after a few minutes of getting the post down from social media, everything went back to normal...or so it seemed because it was all awkward silence in the room and that nobody said a WORD to each other.

"Don't EVER get on to your brother's account and posting without our consent. Do you understand?" Mr. Johnson warned to Simon.

"Yessir," Simon replied.

"Because I worked HARD to get you guys everything you need. And this better not be the thanks I get."

Simon nodded sadly. Nate knew it would be silent throughout the remainder of the party, so he decided to leave.

"Ummm, you know what? I'm gonna head out. Thanks for inviting me anyway," Nate said to the Johnsons.

"Your welcome," Mrs. Johnson said back.

"You're new to this city?" Mr. Johnson asked, suddenly surprised by a new member of San Francisco.

"Yup," Nate replied.

"Nice to meet you, kid. Nice to meet you."

Then after the conversation, Nate left the party. As he was making his way back home, he heard some music in the distance. So he headed straight towards to the source of the music and saw a kid finishing a song up, which Nate couldn't tell.

And the kid looked like any girl's dream crush if you ask me. The kid had red hair, blue eyes, somewhat tan skin, and looked a bit muscular. And Nate got closer as the red-haired boy began to sing another song:

 _Oh, her eyes, her eyes make the stars look like they're not shinin'_

 _Her hair, her hair fall perfectly without her trying_

 _She's so beautiful and I tell her every day_

Nate immediately recognized the song. It was Bruno Mars' "Just The Way You Are."

 _Yeah, I know, I know when I compliment her she won't believe me_

 _And it's so, it's so sad to think that she don't see what I see_

 _But every time she asks me "Do I look okay?"_

 _I say..._

 _When I see your face_

 _There's not a thing that I would change 'cause you're amazing_

 _Just the way you are_

 _And when you smile_

 _The whole world stops and stares for a while_

 _'Cause girl you're amazing_

 _Just the way you are_

 _Yeah..._

 _Her lips, her lips, I could kiss them all day if she'd let me_

 _Her laugh, her laugh she hates but I think it's so sexy_

 _She's so beautiful, and I tell her every day..._

 _Oh you know, you know, you know I'd never ask you to change_

 _If perfect's what you're searching for then just stay the same_

 _So don't even bother asking if you look okay, you know I'll say..._

 _When I see your face_

 _There's not a thing that I would change_

 _'Cause you're amazing_

 _Just the way you are_

And when you smile

 _The whole world stops and stares for a while_

 _'Cause, girl, you're amazing_

 _Just the way you are_

 _The way you are_

 _The way you are_

 _Girl, you're amazing_

 _Just the way you are_

 _When I see your face_

 _There's not a thing that I would change_

 _'Cause you're amazing_

 _Just the way you are_

 _And when you smile_

 _The whole world stops and stares for a while_

 _'Cause, girl, you're amazing_

 _Just the way you are_

 _Yeah!_

Nate couldn't help himself but imagine himself singing that to Ruby. Man, would she love it, or WHAT? Yep, she would DEFINITELY love it.

By now, Nate and Ruby would have a great item by now, even beating Artur and Jenny.

Nate applauded to the kid, who then noticed and greeted him with a question:

"Hey there! You passin' through or you moving in here?"

"Moving in here," Nate responded.

"Great! My name is Samuel Brown," the kid-Samuel- introduced himself.

"Nate Wright," Nate introduced himself back.

"I'm a very good singer, but I haven't brought my talent yet to my school. Should I do so?" Samuel asked Nate.

"Probably a good idea," Nate replied.

Samuel smiled.

"Great idea! Hopefully, people can finally recognize me, and not look at me as a nobody," he said with relief.

"Hope so too," Nate agreed to Samuel's thoughts.

"You want me to sing a few more songs to you, or are you good for now?" Samuel asked.

"Hold off for now. I gotta get back home now, but show me later," Nate politely declined.

"Okay. See you later," Samuel said, bidding goodbye to his new friend.

"Bye," Nate said bidding goodbye back to his new friend.

Nate left and made his way back home. Martin was surprised at how early Nate came back, so he asked why that is.

"You're back early. Is everything alright?"

"Not really. The party turned up to be a disaster. Turned out Simon, the birthday boy, got on to his older brother's account and posted something he shouldn't have. So I excused myself to leave early, and I did, but as I was making my way back here, I heard singing, so I navigated my way to the source, and someone had incredible singing and was about my age too," Nate told his father.

"I can tell you made a friend," Martin said with a smile accompanied with a wink.

"I did," Nate replied back.

"Good for you, good for you. But I want you to be out of the house more, alright? I don't want you being indoors all summer long," Martin requested.

"Alright. I will," Nate responded.

And as promised, Nate spent less time indoors, and more time outdoors, by hanging out with his friends, Samuel and Daniel, by going to the Sava Pool, which was an indoor pool for anyone to go. So that is where Nate and his new friends hang out for most of the summer, other times Samuel would sing a few songs, such as "I will wait" by Mumford and Sons, "Hold Back The River" by James Bay, and "Perfect" by Ed Sheeran.

One day, while shopping for school supplies, which summer was about to end, Samuel asked Nate if he had any friends and foes previously. Nate said he did, by explaining what led up to the events of the P.S 38 Massacre. Daniel and Samuel were shocked by Nate's story, but they didn't hate Nate for what he did to Gina since Nate told Daniel and Samuel about Gina's personalities and selfishness, and how she gets on Nate's nerves, especially towards Nate's previous friends. So they simply warned him about creating demons. Here's the conversation:

"That's pretty harsh if you ask me. I'm not going to hate you for what you did, but I would like to warn about something," Samuel said to Nate.

"About what?" Nate asked.

"About creating your own demons. They can turn you and your life into a living nightmare," Samuel said, answering Nate's question.

Nate felt shocked by what Samuel said. So much that he began to shake uncontrollably.

Samuel went to comfort Nate. So did Daniel.

And after a few moments, the three pulled away from each other, with Samuel saying:

"Come on. Let's finish our school supply shopping."

"Great idea," Daniel replied.

"Right," Nate tagged along too.

And after shopping, Nate went home and went to his room and sat on his bed for a few minutes, then got up and pulled out a piece of paper and began writing a letter to his friends back in his former hometown:

 _Dear Francis and the rest of my friends,_

 _I bet you're wondering how I'm doing. To answer that, I am doing fine...for now. School hasn't started soon and I hope you guys are okay. I now live in San Francisco, which looks like a pretty good place to live so far. I made a few friends so far too, and they are Daniel "DJ" Johnson and Samuel Brown. They are pretty nice if you ask me. Hopefully, we still stay in touch. I miss you guys so much and I hope I see you again._

 _-Nate Wright_

Nate finished his letter and went up to his dad, who was finishing up dinner.

"Hey dad, can you send this letter to my friends?" Nate asked his dad.

"Sure," Martin replied.

After dinner, Martin took care of Nate's letter and got everything squared away.

Nate got cleaned up and went to his room. He hadn't made a comic for quite some time now, so he took the liberty upon himself and began drawing. Nate drew a comic of himself meeting his new friends when sooner or later, there was a robbery, and that's when Nate transformed himself to Ultra-Nate and defeating the villains. The comic left Nate wondering what his new friends would think if they saw his comic. But that didn't matter at the moment since it was getting late and Nate decided to go to sleep.

Meanwhile, about three thousands miles away, Gina sat in her jail cell in anger. She was STILL mad at Nate for what he did to her. She was sentenced to multiple life sentences PLUS one thousand years with no parole, not to mention that at her trial the prosecutor questioned her harshly during cross-examination so much that Gina actually swear out in court that she better not get out of jail. Gina also tried to point out that Nate was responsible for her downfall, but no one wanted to hear it.

But anyway, as Gina kept fuming in her cell in anger, she heard a sudden noise. Turned out there was a prison break in progress.

As Gina broke out of her cell, she screamed out in joy:

"YES! YES! I'M OUT OF MY CELL!"

Gina then noticed a few prison guards rounding up a few inmates, so she wasted no time killing them off one by one. One by knife, another with a neck snap, and the last with a gun.

"Thanks. Appreciate you," one inmate said in gratitude.

"Your welcome," Gina said with an evil smirk.

Then after that, Gina requested that everyone back her up while she and everyone else escape prison. And so they did, and as Gina and all the inmates were making their way out of prison, multiple police officers arrived at the prison.

"Oh Goddammit!" Gina groaned, knowing that she will have to go back to her cell.

But suddenly, multiple bullets began showering down on the ground, which killed the police officers instantly. And as Gina got a closer look, it turned it was coming from a helicopter with a man firing down with a machine gun.

The helicopter got down on the ground, then suddenly there were MORE helicopters coming.

"Get in the copters!" a man demanded to Gina and the inmates.

Everyone complied and the helicopters began to fly away from the prison. And once the inmates were at safety where no one can find them, the helicopters landed on the ground and everyone got out and the man introduced himself.

"I am Alfred Bates Evans. The older brother of the late Jason Evans and welcome to P.E.A.C.E!"

Everyone was quiet. No one said a word to each other until one inmate spoke up.

"What's P.E.A.C.E?" the inmate asked.

"I'm glad you asked. It stands for People Effectively Assaulting Countries Everywhere. We are terrorists, villains, MONSTERS!" Alfred explained to all the inmates, whom all cheered at what Alfred said except for one older inmate, who raised his hand.

"Question? Quiet down, everyone! Someone has a question," Alfred ordered to the crowd.

The cheering stopped, which gave the older inmate to speak.

"Quick out of the blue thing: before I got locked up in a cell, I read on that someone suggested that name you just said a little bit ago. Shouldn't you try another name like-"

But the old inmate wasn't able to finish his thought because Alfred wasted no time to kill the inmate instantly with a gun, which startled all the other inmates.

As the old inmate dropped dead to the ground, Alfred asked the rest of the inmates:

"Anyone else?"

Silence.

"I thought so. Now before we started, does anyone else have any questions or thoughts NOT relating to criticising my team's name?" Alfred asked after a few moments of silence.

Gina raised her hand.

"Go ahead," Alfred signaled to Gina, who responded back:

"I know your brother Jason before he was killed in the P.S 38 massacre. I was his co-accomplice."

This gets Alfred's attention pretty well.

"Ah yes. I heard about you. How about you sit right here in the helicopter while I give the orders?" Alfred suggested to Gina, who wanted to groan, but knowing that she would be the next person killed, she complied with Alfred's suggestion.

"Now. There's WAY too many of you, and I know you want to be on my team too," Alfred began to the inmates, who all cheered at once, causing Alfred to signal them to stop by holding his fist in the air.

"But there are WAY too many of you, so...we are gonna have...tryouts," Alfred continued.

Silence. Then one inmate raised his hand.

"What?" Alfred asked.

"What tryouts are you talking about?" the inmate asked.

"I'm glad you asked that one too. What I mean is that I need a team, who is STRONG, and willing to take orders from me. But I am gonna have to ask that you have ONE round of tryouts. And don't worry. Whoever advances from this round will NOT have to do this again in the future," Alfred explained.

"So what do we have to do?" an inmate asked.

"Simple. You will have to kill each other until there are about...75 of you remaining," Alfred continued to explain, which caused a HUGE protest from the inmates, causing Alfred to silence them again by firing a gun in the air.

"And yes, I know that's frustrating, but here's the catch. I'm looking for inmates from ages 10 to...55 to be on my team. No elderly people aloud," Alfred assured to the inmates.

"HUH?" asked one very old inmate in shock. And in no time flat, a nearby inmate killed the old inmate with a snap to the neck.

"That's right. No weapons, no guns, no knives. Just your hands. Oh. And a few other things. One: Keep track of the inmates with me. And two: anyone who cheats is automatically killed. Do I make myself clear?" Alfred asked while explaining the rules.

The inmates nodded.

"When do we start?" another inmate asked.

"Now," Alfred replied.

And in no time flat, every last inmate began turning on to each other and began killing each by stomping, kicking, and breaking each other apart while Gina watched safely from the helicopter.

And after all 75 inmates were now accounted for, Alfred congratulates the inmates.

"Great job, everyone! Now let's move quickly! I need to talk to Gina," Alfred said to the inmates.

And everyone got into their helicopters and flew away, leaving the rest of the bodies behind.

But anyway, Alfred began a conversation with Gina.

"You knew my brother?" Alfred asked.

Gina nodded.

"Yeah. I was so close to getting my revenge on my nemesis but unfortunately, I lost and I felt HUMILIATED," Gina explained.

Alfred nodded back.

"Who's your nemesis?" he asked Gina.

"Nate Wright. He has spiky hair and writes comics a LOT," Gina explained.

"Where do I find him?" Alfred asked.

"Somewhere...in California," Gina replied.

Alfred nodded again.

"Okay. We'll sweep the entire state for him. Do you know his friends and relatives?" he asked.

Gina nodded and pointed out everyone Nate was close to. Including, but not limited to Francis, Teddy, Chad, Dee Dee, Jenny, Artur, Maya (who has a crush on Chad), Randy, and Ruby (Nate's ex-girlfriend).

"Where do I find them?" What will they look like?" Alfred asked. Gina pointed out their current locations and after that, Alfred said to Gina:

Here's what I'm thinking: We can either find Nate outright, OR we can make his friends suffer first, THEN him. What do you think?"

"Whichever way works possible," Gina responded.

"Okay. First, let's find a place to hide and have quiet profiles, then we'll find Nate's friends and make them suffer, and then, we'll find Nate. How does that sound to you?" Alfred asked.

"Fabulous," Gina said with an evil smirk.

In her mind, Gina's thoughts were:

 _Oh, Nate, you picked the wrong person to mess with. And now you will DEFINITELY pay for what you did to me!_

That's when Alfred's phone began to ring.

"Hello?...Oh, I see...Uh-huh...uh-huh...Oh, okay! Thank you for the update! Bye!" Alfred answered before bidding goodbye to his caller then dropped the news to Gina:

"Good news: we now know where Nate is, and his dad has no idea that his new company is connected to ours."

* * *

*Oh boy! A shocking twist! And I am SO SORRY for the long delay. School conflicted me from writing this chapter amongst other things and all credit goes to LilGherkin from The Escapist. And thank you to giving me an idea to have Gina break out of prison. Tell me what I will write in the next chapter and I will write it down. Again, sorry for the BIG delay. See you all around!*


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10: First day at a new school

RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG!

Music to Nate's ears (or at LEAST it is).

Nate turned off his alarm clock, got up, and began doing his daily chores before getting ready for school.

"Have fun at your new school!" Martin waved to Nate, who headed out the door and onto the school bus.

And it was an approximate 13-minute drive to the San Francisco School, and as the bus stopped, Nate got off the bus along with Samuel and Daniel and headed to San Francisco school. And it seemed like a bigger building than P.S 38 ever was (no offense).

Nate looked around in the school and there was all grades preschool through 8th grade, which surprised Nate very much, but luckily Samuel assured Nate that he will make more friends very soon.

Since Nate was new to San Francisco School, he was given a tour around the school on where the bathrooms, gym, lunchroom, classrooms, and detention room are, and soon after that, Nate was given a paper that had all the class hours and what time lunch starts and ends.

Soon, the bell rang and Nate headed to his first-hour class, and it was social studies, just like 6th grade with Mrs. Godfrey. Nate wondered if he'll have at least one or few classes with his new friends, but as he entered the class, he spotted his right away.

"Okay, children. Let's take our seats," said the teacher.

The teacher wrote on the board, introducing himself:

"I am Mr. Greenwood and I will be teaching class this year."

And the teacher had blond hair (like Jenny's) and green eyes.

"Since today is our first day back at school, I would like you all to introduce yourselves to the class," the teacher instructed.

And one by one, everyone introduced themselves, including but not limited to Samuel, Daniel and a girl named Rebecca Coleman, who has dyed reddish-brown hair, and brown eyes. And she looked so attractive that Nate couldn't stop gazing at her in awe...until Nate was eventually called on to introduce himself.

And Nate introduced himself to the class by telling what his favorite foods are, his favorite hobbies are and whatever. But Nate thought it wasn't necessary to talk about what happened at P.S 38, so Nate didn't bring the subject to the class.

And after that, the class mostly chit-chatted for the rest of the period. Nate scooched over to Samuel and Daniel and talked for a bit.

"So far, so good, huh?" Nate asked his friends.

"Yep. Oh, and try to be careful around Rebecca. You don't want to get on her bad side," Daniel replied.

"Huh?"

"If you get on her bad side, Rebecca will do ANYTHING to humiliate you, privately OR publicly, so do your best not to pick on her," Samuel explained to Nate.

Nate's stomach turned quickly. He didn't want to create another Gina Hemphill-Toms.

"But anyway, you'll like this class as long as you do your best," Samuel assured Nate with a smile on his face.

Nate relaxed. Maybe with his friends' help, Nate will make a LOT of new friends...as long as the past doesn't try to come back to haunt him...right?

Soon, the bell rang. Kids poured out of the classroom immediately. Nate thought it would best to avoid Rebecca as much as possible, but the look of her face and hair and the sound of the tone made Nate come over to her and introduce himself.

"Hi," Nate said.

"Hey," Rebecca replied.

"I'm new here in California."

"Really?"

"Yup."

"Hmm. I see you like to draw comics. So do I in my spare time."

"That's what I learned today about you."

"Good. Now, since you're new here, I'm going to give you some advice."

Then Rebecca leaned over to Nate and whispered:

"Do your best not to get on my bad side, because if you do, you're going to wish you never met me."

That got Nate's attention very easily.

"...HUH?" Nate asked in shock.

Then Rebecca grinned evilly then warned to Nate:

"If you try to mess with me, your friends are going to be the ones killed in Gina's revenge plot against you!"

"That's right!" said another student.

Then another.

Then another.

Then another.

Then before you know it, everyone surrounded Nate and began shouting at Nate with the same line:

"Gina's gonna make you pay!"

And everyone began laughing evilly until suddenly:

SNAP! SNAP!

"Anyone home? Hellloooooooo?"

Turned out Nate was daydreaming and Rebecca was trying to get Nate's attention.

Nate snapped back to reality with a gasp.

"You OK? I was trying to talk to you, but you were blankly staring at me," Rebecca said to Nate.

"Sorry...I was hallucinating that you would kill me and everyone else was joining in so..." Nate explained after getting back to his senses.

Rebecca gave Nate a funny look.

"...What are even talking about?" Rebecca asked in clear confusion.

"...I have no idea," Nate replied back.

"Well, here's the thing: I would NEVER kill anyone in my lifetime, even if I thought to do so," Rebecca reassured Nate, who then sighed and laid his face on her upper right chest, much to Rebecca's surprise.

But sadly, Rebecca pushed Nate's face off with a smirk and said:

"Okay, can you NOT do that again, please? Because I like my personal space," Rebecca politely said to Nate, who sighed and said back:

"I was just looking for comfort."

Rebecca looked back with a little surprise, then after a few seconds went in for the hug. Then after the hug, Rebecca pulled back and asked:

"There's your comfort. Better?"

Nate nodded slightly.

"You may need some water. Come on," Rebecca pulled Nate's hand and the two headed for the water fountain. There, the two meet up with Samuel and Daniel, who looked surprised to see Nate with Rebecca.

"I see that you befriended Rebecca. That's good, that's good. Maybe with Samuel's help, you could make a lot more friends sooner or later," Daniel said to Nate.

"Oh, please Daniel, stop trying to embarrass yourself," Rebecca hissed back as Nate got a drink at the water fountain.

"Guys, please," Nate tried to stop the fight after getting a quick drink.

"Right, not on the first day of school," Samuel stepped in on the argument.

"Anyway, what's next hour class?" Nate asked.

"Lemme check," Daniel responded as he pulled out a schedule and it listed the following:

Social Studies... Mr. Greenwood

English... Ms. Taylor

Art... Ms. Adams

PE... Coach Jackson

Math... Mr. Phillips

Science... Mrs. Rose

"Huh, just like I had the classes at P.S 38. Wow," Nate thought to himself.

"Well, we better get moving, because English starts in a few minutes," Daniel said to the gang.

And just like that, the gang made their way to English, as Rebecca said to Nate:

"Welcome to San Francisco School."

RRRRRiiiiinnnnnnggggggg!

Nate's music to his ears as English began.

"Okay, children! I'm Ms. Taylor and I will be teaching English this year and I hope we have a great year together!" the teacher introduced herself to the class in a happy, bright mood, which got Nate by surprise. Did I forget to mention that the teacher had brown hair and blue eyes and she looked AMAZING (not to intentionally jealous Ruby)!

The teacher went on to tell the students to introduce themselves and after that, she went on to tell the students on what they are going to do this year and after that, Ms. Taylor actually made popcorn for the whole class, much to everyone's delight, even from Nate.

And you know what? The rest of the first day of school went out the exact same way...well...half especially for art, where Ms. Adams dressed up in gothic clothes and was quirky to the whole class, just like Lady Gaga of sorts and flirted with Nate when he introduced himself to what his favorite hobbies are, especially drawing comics.

But anyway, Nate was excited about his first day at school, especially when lunch time came along and they had GOOD FOOD unlike P.S 38's meals, and his coach teacher, Mr. Jackson (who had brown hair on his head and some on his face, and he played music for the whole class, which Nate feel very happy), his math teacher, Mr. Phillips (who had grey hair and was in his mid 40s-50s), and Mrs. Rose (who had black hair and green eyes).

The final bell rang, and the trio left school to get on the bus and headed home.

Nate was dropped off at his home where his dad greeted him.

"Hey there, Nate! How was your first day at school?"

"Very good. At least I made a few friends so far, and the teachers were nice too," Nate replied.

"Good, very good. See? So far so good, huh?"

Nate couldn't help but chuckle slightly. You know what they say: Don't judge a book by its cover.

"Oh, and Nate?" Martin called out to Nate.

"Yeah?" Nate asked back.

"You got a piece of mail."

Nate's ears perked up.

"Oh, good. Who's it from?" Nate asked.

"You'll see," Martin replied before walking away.

Nate opened the letter. It said:

Dear Nate,

It's good that you made a few friends so far. We're glad you're okay. We miss you so much too. It has been rough since you moved away and Ruby misses you so much, she could NOT stop crying after you left. And to make matters worse, P.S 38 has to relocate to Jefferson Middle School, so even though we defeated Jefferson at the mud bowl, we might not survive without you. But anyway, if you have started school, maybe share a little bit about it soon, okay? Hope to see your mail again soon.

-Francis, Teddy, Randy, Dee Dee, Chad, Artur, Jenny, and Ruby, who gives you a XOXOXO ;)

Nate read the note. He felt bummed that Ruby cried after he left, and knowing that P.S 38 has to relocate to Jefferson (AGAIN, because of the one time at a winter dance, there was a major leak from the ceiling and it set off the fire alarms, and P.S 38 had to move to Jefferson for TWO WEEKS), he couldn't help but feel pretty bad for his friends back in Rackleff, Maine.

Nate sighed as he made his way to his room when an idea came off from Nate's head. He pulled out a piece of paper and began writing another letter:

Dear Francis and the rest of my friends,

I have received your letter. I'm sorry that you have to relocate to Jefferson Middle School for a while. Hopefully, you don't get bullied for a REALLY long time by Nolan. But anyway, I have started school and I gotta say, the school was amazing (so far)! The school has a LOT of nice teachers like Ms. Taylor, the English teacher, and she made popcorn for the class, and Coach Jackson, the PE teacher who let the class play kickball today, and there was Ms. Adams, the art teacher who dresses up in gothic clothes and is quirky to the whole class, just like Lady Gaga of sorts and she actually flirted with me and the WHOLE class, but thankfully, she was not mean at all. So there is your rundown of San Francisco school, and I hope you survive Jefferson Middle School. See you soon again. :)

-Nate Wright

Nate finished his letter and gave it to his dad to mail it. Soon after dinner, Nate headed to his room and got changed and began drawing another comic for awhile, and it was about Nate adapting to his new school, but the funny thing is that Nate didn't know how to end the story with a little bow because all his thought were about Ruby and how much he missed her and his friends.

But sooner or later, Nate's thoughts were interrupted by Martin, who said:

"Time to go to bed."

And Nate went to bed, just like that. And as Nate slept, he dreamed of being with Ruby again, running through the tall grass with her and (possibly) marrying her.

"I hope I see her again," Nate thought as he slept.

* * *

*Phew! That took forever! Tell me about what should I do for the next chapter and I hope to see you again! Later! ;)


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11: Ellen's perspective

Note: this chapter will go off from Ellen's P.O.V and will focus on Ellen from the day she learned about the California plan to the present day. Enjoy!

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I had the most perfect life ever.

I had a part-time job at Daffy Burger and I have had a sixth-month anniversary with my boyfriend Gordie. Life couldn't get any better.

One day I was in my room reading when I hear a knock on my door.

"Come in," I responded.

The door opened.

It was Nate...my brother. He never knocks on my door... (much).

"Family meeting," Nate says with a bit of concern.

"About what?" I ask.

"I have no idea."

And so, the siblings appear before their father in the living room for a meeting.

"I've been trying to figure out how to say this, but I'll go ahead and try to tell you the best I can," Martin says to his kids. Suddenly, he hesitates, unclear on how to deliver the news to his kids. Nate and Ellen started to worry.

"...d...dad?" I asked, starting to freak out a bit. Even my brother was scared.

"Come on, dad. You're scaring me," Nate says to his father.

After a few moments, Martin finally speaks up. "I...I lost my job. The company laid me off last month."

This greatly shocks the siblings. " Wait... last month?" I asked in confusion. "Didn't we see you go the office a few weeks ago?"

Nate jumped into the conversation. "Yeah, remember you were all dressed up and everything?"

It was true. About a few weeks ago, Nate returned home from school to find his dad getting ready to go to work (or what it seemed to be, let alone the truth was going to be revealed in the present day). Nate didn't mind this since he thought his dad had a job to go to.

"Actually, kids...I wasn't going to the office," Martin explains. "I had a job interview. I've been going to lots of job interviews lately, trying to apply for work, but unfortunately, it hasn't been going so well. My first choice would be staying here."

"And the second choice?" Nate asks.

"Well...there IS a company that wants to hire me… in California."

The word 'California' felt like a horrible echo to me and Ellen. Not to mention, it felt like all the air has left the room.

"We're...we're moving?" Nate asks in shock.

"If I can't find any work here in town, yes Nate, I'm afraid we'll have to move," Martin replies sadly.

I turned desperate...quickly. "D-don't make us go, dad. Please? I can't leave my boyfriend and...and…"

"Sorry Ellen, I can't leave you two here by yourselves," Martin responds to Ellen's pleads to stay.

Immediately, I ran to my room, slamming the door shut, and cried into my pillow for a few hours until Dad called me for dinner. And I wasn't in a mood to talk about whatever I wanted to talk about at the table.

And the next morning as I woke up, I wondered why I was in a cruddy mood until about 10 seconds later, I knew why.

It was about 6:10 when I woke up when I heard slight noises coming from Nate's room, so I went over to investigate.

The door was closed so I slightly opened it to see the lamp light on and Nate on the ground seemingly organizing some papers, it seems.

"You're up early," I said.

Nate noticed.

"Yeah, had a bad dream so I couldn't get any sleep," he responded back.

I peered down on the papers Nate was organizing.

"...what are you doing?" I ask.

"Organizing my school papers," Nate responded back.

"Going to do some make-up work?"

"Yup."

"Cool. Good luck with that."

And after that conversation, I went back to my bed and fell asleep again. Even at breakfast, I was still in a bad mood. And while I was eating, I kept wondering to myself:

"What am I going to tell Gordie about the news today?"

At work today, I did my best to not let my emotions get the best out of me today as I took orders from customers for food. During my work break, my boss noticed that I wasn't in a bright mood today, so she asked what's wrong. I was a bit too hesitant to answer in fear that my last-second miracle would be destroyed.

But before I could respond, one of my coworkers jumped into the conversation saying:

"Hey, guys! Check out the news!"

And everyone turned their eyes to the news, and to my shock, I saw the news report that a husband and a wife were murdered by car crash and gunshots.

"Jesus Christ! Who would do such a mean thing?" My boss cried out.

"I dunno. Maybe some knucklehead, of course," one coworker said.

Everyone else agreed. Then my boss pulled me over again and asked what my problem was. I had no other choice but to tell the news about what is about to happen to me and my family.

My boss was shocked. And soon enough, everyone became aware of what is happening. And everyone began comforting me, trying to reassure everything will be okay, but I was too sad to be happy.

Later...

"You can take some time off, Ellen," my boss said.

"Okay, thanks," I replied back.

And soon I left Daffy Burger, I went to take a walk, try to clear my head.

"What to do, what to do..." I mumbled to myself.

Then I decided to visit Gordie about the news. So I went down to the mall and headed to the comic store where Gordie works, and let me tell you that Gordie can draw with BOTH OF HIS HANDS. Can you believe it? Probably impossible, of course...

Gordie was the first to notice me.

"Oh, hey. How's it going, Ellen?"

"Alright...I guess," I replied back barely.

Gordie frowned immediately.

"What's wrong?" he asked me.

I sighed, then I letted out the truth.

"If my dad doesn't find a job here in town, I will have to move to California," I said with a tear falling down my face.

Gordie looked stunned, or should I say shocked. then he walks over and gives me a comforting hug.

"Well, is there anything I can do? Anything at all?" Gordie asks in support.

"I dunno. Only thing I can do is pray," I responded weakly with more tears running down my face.

Then me and Gordie heard a few commotions in the distance.

"What's going on?" I ask.

Then me and Gordie headed straight to the source of the commotion.

"Dude, you gettin' this?" said one male shopper to me as Gordie and I got close to the TV and sure enough, I saw it:

Breaking news: A school, named P.S 38, has had a horrifying shooting today as police, and doctors rush in to the aftermath of the massacre and out with injured students and crying students. Witness say that...

My heart dropped. Just hit the ground.

"That's where Nate goes," I realized as my eyes widened with shock and tears.

And the news showed that there where two perpetrators, a student at P.S 38 and some assassin working for some secret organization or whatever were shown onscreen.

"That's Gina Hemphill-Toms. She worked with Nate on some history project and is one of the smartest kids around.

...and police shown here is questioning two boys about one of the perpetrators who went to this school here.

Then the TV screen showed a brown-haired kid and...

"Is that your brother?" Gordie asked to me in shock.

Then I let out a scream in shock and pain. How could Nate go through this?

"THAT'S MY BROTHER!" I screamed out loud.

Everyone looked at me. I noticed.

"Sorry...sorry," I said back before turning to Gordie, who asked:

"I take it you have to leave."

I nodded.

"I'll call you later about the matter," I said back before rushing out the mall.

And I didn't care about how fast I was going. I didn't CARE about who or what was in my way. All I cared about was if Nate was going to be okay.

I rushed over to the school, and saw Nate in tears along with the brown-haired kid.

"NATE!" I screamed on the top of my lungs and rushed over to my brother but was pulled back by a few police officers. But luckily Nate spoke up and said I was his sister, so the officers let me go and and I threw my arms around him in a tight hug.

"Oh, Nate. Are you okay?" I asked with tears coming out of my eyes.

"Fine," Nate replied back.

"What happened today? Tell me!" I pleaded to Nate, feeling so scared even I can't control myself .

Nate explained to me what happened today and at first I was angry, but when Nate explained more of Gina to me, I just felt bad for Nate. But it didn't matter. The only thing that mattered that Nate was alive and well. So I held on to Nate for a while until me and Nate slowly made our way home.

Unfortunately, someone wasn't happy when we got back home.

Yup, you guessed it. It was dad.

After I was ordered to go upstairs (though I didn't actually do so as I hid behind the corner as much as I could) I heard dad yelling at Nate for his part in the incident today, most notably, the taser part. And the argument kept going on and on until I lost it and SLAMMED my hand on the table after getting out of the corner, causing the argument to stop and Nate and Dad looked at me in surprise.

My hand slam was so hard it caused a little shockwave to the living room and kitchen, causing one of the glass cups to fall and smash to the ground.

It was silent for a few minutes, until I spoke, my voice clearly angry:

"How about, for the rest of the day, NOT rip each other's heads off! We can at LEAST be grateful that none of us were killed and that the bad guy is in handcuffs."

Dad and Nate looked at me in shock. Then Dad's angry began to cease.

"Well...I guess you're right. Though..." Dad started then gestured to the broken glass on the ground. "Are you gonna clean this up?"

"...eventually. How about we go from that...to Nate NOT actually being at fault for the school shooting?" I responded.

This got Dad's attention very well. Then he turned to Nate for the truth and asked:

"Is this true?"

Nate nodded and said that he and Gina (one of the perpetrators) didn't like each other very much BEFORE the school shooting.

Martin was surprised by this, then nodded, then he said:

"I see. But I need more words and details to include to that claim, otherwise I won't take it."

And Nate did so.

"Well...she's a big suck-up, always brags about how smart she is, likes getting other people into trouble, provides more work for the class, and she has a big mouth (which she can humiliate you in front of the class."

And Nate explained everything about Gina, leaving me and Dad in surprise.

"Wow. And here I thought you and Gina were good friends. I guess I was wrong about you before," I said in surprise.

"Well, that will do. But your punishment is no dinner tonight," Martin responded before turning to me and said with a pointing finger at the broken glass:

"And YOU, young lady, clean up this mess."

"Yes, sir," I said with a sigh and cleaned up the mess as Nate went upstairs.

"I'm too emotionally drained to eat tonight," I said to Dad after I cleaned up the broken glass.

"You are?" Dad asked.

"I am."

"...I guess we all are too emotionally drained to eat. Guess dinner won't be on tonight."

And after a few days later or so, Nate stayed in his room for most of the time (with the exception of bathrooms, breakfast, lunch, dinner) and refused to leave his room. I felt worried. And so did Dad.

And as I was reading a book, I overheard Dad hustling Nate out of the house.

"But Dad, I don't want to show my face out there! People would recognize me for what I did to Gina and-" Nate started.

"It's not your fault. Just relax and go get some fresh air," Martin interrupted Nate before kicking him out of the house.

And as soon as Nate disappeared from Dad's sight, I went up to him and asked:

"Why did you kick him out?"

"I just don't want Nate to become a house hermit his whole life," Dad responded back.

"Didn't had to do that, you know..." I quietly said back.

Oops. Mistake. HUGE MISTAKE. Dad gives me the hairy eyeball.

"You wanna take that back?" Dad hisses at me.

"Okay, okay! You're right! You're right! It's just that it's hard to live a normal life when everyone knows who you are and what you you did!" I spoke back in a speedy voice.

Dad's look of anger turned to confusion.

"What's was the last part?" Dad asks.

"It's just that it's hard to live a normal life when everyone knows who you are and what you you did," I said with a normal speed of speaking.

Dad admitted that was true.

"Oh...I guess you're right. My apologies for the sudden anger and..."

I came over to hug Dad in comfort.

"It's okay, Dad. You're fine," I said in a forgiving tone.

Then Dad said this:

"And if I was still married to Sara, none of this would be happening right now."

I looked at Dad in surprise.

"Dad?"

Dad had a tear sliding down his face.

"Do you remember how your mother and I got divorced?"

Flashback: years earlier

"Is this how you always are, Martin? Is this what't BEST for Nate and Ellen?" Sara yelled at Martin.

"What? No! I'm not always like that," Martin responded back.

The two were arguing over (A) Martin's terrible cooking skills, (B) keeping sugary candies to himself while handing out healthy foods to kids on Halloween, (C) buying things they should have, and (D) what's best for their children.

"Well, I am SICK of you not taking a CLUE in your life! I'm getting a divorce from you and I'm moving out!"

Plus, the couple were fighting in front of Nate, who started bawling so loudly that the fight actually stopped for once as Sara rushed over to Nate and picked him up and carried him to another room and cradled him for awhile then looked into his eyes and said:

"Oh, Nate. I don't think I will be able to take care of you and Ellen in the future, so I wish you the best in life."

Sara then kissed Nate on the forehead and continued to rock him for awhile.

End of flashback.

"Gee, that...that was pretty deep. Too bad I wasn't there to see it," I said in sadness.

Dad had tears pouring out of his cheeks now.

"And if only I got at least one clue in my life, I would have still be married to Sara and none of this would be happening right now. Sara would be working, and I would be the stay-at-home Dad," Dad sobbed quietly as I hugged him in comfort once more.

Even I had a few tears coming down my face.

"And to make it worse, this might affect my upcoming job interview. I don't know what to do," Dad continued, getting much of his thought out as much as he can through sobs.

I felt numb hearing this. I didn't want to leave. So I offered a suggestion.

"Just, uh...try to stay calm as much as you can and, uh...act like nothing happened. Then, you get the job, then everything goes back to normal...for the most part."

Dad looked at me with bloodshot eyes.

"Really?" Dad asks.

I nodded.

Then Dad eventually agreed to the suggestion.

Days passed and word got around that Nate and his friends won the Mud Bowl for the first time in 36 years. I was proud of my brother, and so was Dad. Soon, I was introduced to some girl named Ruby Dinsmore. And I took an immediate liking to her. And as soon as Ruby left, I turned to Nate and said:

"She's very pretty and nice."

"Thanks," Nate said.

But somehow, the thought of the California plan faded from my mind, because on the day of the interview, Nate came home as if he was about to have a breakdown.

And the second Nate explained that me, Dad and Nate will have to move, the second I broke down. Tears were coming out of my face like a waterfall. And as soon as Dad got home, I ran up to him and:

"Dad! W-what happened? D-d-d-did you try to stay calm or-?" I choked out my words to Dad, who replied back:

"I tried, but unfortunately, I failed, mainly because I was suggested to take the job in California to escape scrutiny here in town, and there was nothing I could do about it."

Now I was in a full-panic mode as more tears kept pouring down my face.

"P-PLEASE DON"T MAKE US GO! I DON'T WANT TO LEAVE!"

But Dad said it was over and not worth fighting anymore, so I ran over to my room, slammed the door shut and cried into my pillow as I did when I learned the news.

And soon, moving day arrived and I had to break up with Gordie, knowing that I will probably never see him again in my life. I saw Nate say his goodbyes to his friends and girlfriend and soon, the family car pulled out of the driveway and the trip to California had begun.

And the city we relocated in was San Francisco. I was STILL sad that I had to leave my old home behind, but after eating out at The Cheesecake Factory? That made me feel a LOT better...for now.

Even the new house made me surprise, because there was a mini gate at the entrance, a little flight of stairs to main door entrance, a chef's kitchen with a breakfast bar, three bedrooms, two bathrooms, and a fireplace!

But was it hard to make new friends? It sure was for me, but not for Nate (I don't blame him though, because he made some nice friends). I could not find any friends for most of the summertime until one day (which was a week before school started), while I was walking around the new city I live in now, I spotted a nearby girl (who looked like my age and looked like Zendaya) and was sitting down on a bench by herself, looking lonesome. I couldn't help myself but decide to go other to the girl to comfort her. Hopefully, she doesn't leave on me...

And I was the one to start the conversation first.

"Hey," I said.

"Um...hi," the girl said back.

I sat down on the bench and introduced myself.

"My name is Ellen Wright."

"My name is Charlotte Coleman," the girl-Charlotte-replied back.

"I'm new here to this city."

"Are you? I lived here since I was born."

And I began to take an immediate liking to Charlotte right away, mainly because we both had a lot in common, like breakups (though mine was forced because I wasn't an adult yet, and Charlotte was dumped by her boyfriend a few months ago), and having siblings (me having Nate as a brother and Charlotte has a sister named Olivia), but what we DIDN'T have in common in friends, because Charlotte didn't have very many as much as I did back in my hometown. I felt bad for her, so I offered to be her friend. She accepted my offer, and after that, we were best friends from here on.

And I felt so much better for the first time since the California plan.

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*PHEW! Tough and hard, but totally worth it. I had scheduling conflicts and writer's block in my way, but I finally got it done for you. Hope you enjoyed it! And I decided to take time answer some comments.

"Eddy chapter 10 . Apr 25

Is Rackleff supposed to be a building in Maine, just wondering." My response: its supposed to be a fictional town in Maine. I did a little researching and found out where Big Nate takes place. Hopefully, that answers your question. "Guest chapter 2 . Jun 21 dude. I can not tell you how much I have wanted to read this fanfic. No joke, I remember writing a draft of this chapter over a year ago in a notebook, but incredibly different. (it ended with randy telling the whole classroom that Nate was boarding a place to California) huge thanks to you right now. good lluck writing this story! I hope you continue!" My response: thank you. Plus, I would love to see your spin on the story sometime, so let me know if you want to do it. I would love to see it. Oh, and one last thing is that I had to remove the comments so that I can provide more room for more feedback, support, and ideas for more chapters to come, not to bring hatred to you guys. You are the best! :) Peace out for now! Can't wait for more ideas. Bye! Happy 4th of July!


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12 is here! Please enjoy! :) P.S: we will be returning back to Nate's perspective.

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Chapter 12: Reunions and Gina's building scheme

It had been a month since Nate started school. He had gotten quite well with everyone else, and with the help of Rebbecca, Samuel, and Daniel, Nate had got quite a chunk of new friends.

But the only thing missing was Nate's old friends.

"Hey Nate, you okay, bro?" Daniel asked.

Nate snapped out of his thoughts about his friends and answered DJ's question.

"I'm okay," he said.

"You sure?"

"...I just miss my friends, that's all."

Samuel noticed.

"Dang... missing your friends isn't easy at all, is it?" Samuel said sadly.

Nate nodded.

"Do you have social media to communicate them with?"

"Not really."

"I think I might have just the thing. I got a Webcam account at home that might help if one of your friends has one."

Nate perked up and quickly tagged suit.

"Yeah! One of my friends have one," Nate said.

So the trio headed to Samuel's house and was greeted by Samuel's mom (who has beautiful red hair) and headed to Samuel's room where Samuel got on his computer and asked for one of Nate's friends' contacts and Nate told Francis' account and typed it in and after a few failed attempts, Francis finally picked up contact.

"Look, I don't know WHY you keep calling me, so you better- NATE? Is that you?" Francis asked in surprise.

Through my new friend's Webcam, yes," Nate replied with a smile.

"Guys! Guys, it's Nate on Webcam, you guys!" Francis calls for his friends, and before you knew it, Francis' room was FLOODED with Nate's old friends, including but not limited to, Francis, Teddy, Chad, Randy, Artur, Jenny, and Dee Dee.

And it was like the first time, in a LONG TIME, Nate is finally having a reunion for the first time in history.

And Nate talked quite a whole lot to his old friends and introduced them to his new friends and when Nate introduced Dee Dee to Samuel, she immediately began falling for the redhead, and he was so incredibly handsome! And Francis had to get Dee Dee to focus again quickly got back to reality and was blushing for awhile.

Soon, Nate headed home for dinner. When he got home, he saw someone in the living room.

"Who are you?" Nate asks.

"Nate, this is one of my coworkers from work, Laura Diaz," Martin came in and introduced his coworker, who had blonde hair and brown eyes.

"Hi there," Laura said, getting up to greet Nate.

"Ummm...hi?" Nate replied nervously, greeting Laura.

Soon, dinner arrived and Nate was at the dinner table with his family and Laura eating food.

Soon Laura, after talking to Martin for a while, turned her attention to Nate and asked:

"So Nate, how is life for you going?"

"Ummm...great," Nate said.

"Your dad told me everything about you. No one treating you poorly here than in Maine?"

Ellen began to notice Nate looking a wee bit uncomfortable.

"Ummm... can you not talk to him about that, please? He doesn't feel comfortable," Ellen asked Laura to stop.

But unfortunately, Ellen's pleas fell on deaf ears as Laura constantly asked him about what it was like to stand up to Gina, and how he was close to death.

Even Martin began to feel bugged out about this. And just as Nate was about to crack, Martin quickly interrupts and pulls Laura aside.

"You know, I think it is best that you leave now and never come back. How DARE you make my son uncomfortable!" Martin shoots Laura a death glare.

"I was just-" Laura started.

"No! No excuses! Goodbye!" Martin shot back, hustling Laura out. And after making sure she was gone, Martin returns to the dinner table.

"My apologies, Nate. I'll make sure I never hear from that dreadful woman ever again. Don't you worry one bit," Martin apologized to Nate.

"Thanks," Nate replied.

And after finishing dinner, Nate went to his room, drew comics for a little bit, and went to sleep soon after.

"Maybe tomorrow will get better..."

Morning arrived, and it was Friday (Nate's favorite of the week).

As Nate walked to school with his friends, he told them about what happened last night.

"Now THAT was rude of her!" DJ was sickened by the news.

"I heard she is a bully. She can play nice for a while or so, and BAM! She'll bring down the thunderbolt," Samuel chimed in.

"So did your dad take care of her or something?" DJ asked.

Nate nodded.

Rebecca approached the trio and walked with them to school.

"Hey dudes, how's it going?" Rebecca asked.

"Not too good," Nate replied.

"What happened?"

"One of my Dad's coworkers made me uncomfortable last night at dinner, asking me questions like 'How does it feel to defeat Gina?' And 'What was it like to be nearly killed?' Stuff like that," Nate explained.

Everyone stopped dead in their tracks. A terrible silence was among the group.

"Why would she say something like that? Who was it that said that to you?" Rebecca got upset and demanded to know who it was.

"Laura Diaz," Nate replied.

"Oh god, not that dreadful woman!" Rebecca angrily responded back.

"You know her?"

"I do! She's a bully! Someone needs to expose her for what she has done to other people!"

"Yeah, and plus, how does she even know me that well?" Nate asked.

"Dunno, but she sounds like she belongs to an empire or something," DJ responded.

And so it was settled: should Laura get anywhere near Nate and intimidate him, his friends would protect him at all costs.

And after that...

"Come on, guys! We're gonna be late to school," Rebecca said.

And off the group went to school.

Meanwhile, somewhere that no one goes near or visits...

"That's where he is?" Alfred asked Laura on the phone.

"Correct," Laura replied.

"Good. Hold off for now. We are beginning our next phase on our plans for the world."

"Will do."

The conversation ended. Alfred turned to Gina, who is planning her scheme on Nate.

"How's your scheme going?" Alfred asked.

"Well planned out. I'm thinking on whether to make Nate suffer first, or his friends and family suffer first," Gina replied.

"Speaking of, we now have Nate's location."

"Yes! Can't wait to make him suffer!"

"It's on now, Nate! You're are not gonna like what comes next!" Gina thought to herself, with a nasty grin on her face.

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*Sorry for the big delay. Had schoolwork and other to do. But I got it now! So what should the chapter be about next? Who will suffer first? And what are Alfred's plans are for the world? And P.S, I am VERY SORRY for the delay. Hopefully, you enjoyed this chapter! Please review this chapter if I need to retcon anyone or anything or what should the next chapter be about. Goodbye for now. :)


	13. Chapter 13

*So sorry for the huge delay of this chapter. Had so much going on for some time, but I finally made it. Just had to do school finals, graduate from high school, went to see Avengers Endgame, had my wisdom teeth pulled out, had to help out Dad prepare for harvest and other work required, but I made it!*

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Chapter 13: Nolan meets...Nina?

Meanwhile, about three thousand miles away in Rackleff, Maine...

Life was not the same without Nate. Translation: Nate's old friends had or STILL having struggles coping with Nate in California now, especially Ruby. Francis missed the old days of Nate giving noogies to his head, Teddy had struggles finding someone to crack a joke to, Randy kept a VERY quiet profile since the PS 38 school incident and struggles with his parents' divorce, Chad...well, he was still Chad at his same old ways of eating and drinking sweets and other good food he liked, Jenny got on Webcam to continue "dating" Artur, who went back to Belarus since he was an exchange student, Dee Dee kept getting dramatic over one little thing and was CONSTANTLY worried on what's to come in the future, and RUBY? Well, she wasn't the same without Nate, since their relationship didn't last too long because Nate had to move. But despite promising on finding Nate in the near future, her hopes and dreams were slowly dying every single day, mainly due to her parents telling her that "friends come and go, but family is forever."

It was another typical day at Jefferson middle school (and yes, they still had good food especially with the the ice cream machine but NOW they also have a smoothie machine. Smokes! Even I wish I had a school that can afford that!, because PS 38 had to close and eventually get demolished so it can turn into a memorial for the fallen teachers and students, and Mr. Chung is in the middle of teaching when the principal came in with a good-looking female student.

"Oh hello," Mr. Chung said to the principal, Mrs. Williger, who introduced the new student to the class.

"Kids, this here is Nina Watson. She will be with this class, so please let her fit right in. You hear me?" Mrs. Williger said to the class before leaving.

So that was that, as Nina went to sit down in her new desk, Teddy couldn't help herself but look on how just so beautiful she looked.

"Teddy, you still with us?" Mr. Chung broke Teddy out of his dreamy gaze.

"Uh, yeah. Yeah I am," Teddy responded quickly, not wanting to become an embarrassment to the class.

"Okay, now as I was saying..." Mr. Chung said before turning back to the chalkboard.

RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnggggggggggggggg!

Class was let out soon after. And lunch commenced.

And, again, they now have a smoothie machine (much to everyone's delight). As everyone was getting their lunches, Nolan spotted Teddy an the table with his friends, got up, and headed straight towards them.

Randy noticed Nolan first, then got up and went face to face with Nolan while the chit chatter quickly died down and all eyes on the two students.

Silence for a few seconds.

"...you know, just because you are now part of Jefferson Middle School, doesn't mean you are a Jefferson student completely," Nolan said finally, breaking the silence.

"Let's not do this, man," Randy said calmly.

"Or what? Do nothing but watch you break all our other streaks we had over the years?" Nolan shot back quickly.

Nolan was right. Ever since Randy joined sports, he DOMINATED all the other streaks Jefferson had over the years, including but not limited to basketball, baseball, soccer, whatever. Jefferson lost every other sports game and every other streak because of Randy.

"Well, why don't you just wait for the next 7 years and see if you can your streak back?"

"I LOVE to, but none of us are going to be here in the next 7 years because we are going off to college an some to the military, so I can't!" Nolan hissed before raising his hand as a fist, ready to strike down Randy, until suddenly-

"It's not worth it," Nina said, stepping in to keep a fight from breaking out.

Then Nina leaned in to Nolan and whispered:

"I'm on your side, we'll talk later," she said with an accompanied wink.

"Oh! Nina! Hi! How are you doing?" Nolan quickly switched to his good side, because, like Teddy, Nolan has an attraction to Nina.

"Good," Nina replied back before heading to the girls' table.

Nolan looked at Nina, the back to Randy, before heading back to his table with his friends, while Randy headed back to his table.

Francis had a weird feeling about Nina. He even acknowledged it to his friends.

"I can't help but noticed that Nina sounds a LOT like GINA. Don't you agree?" Francis asked to his friends.

"I dunno, but I think she's kinda hot," Teddy said back.

Later...

"...And I am at least GLAD Nate has moved. Let's consider that an eye for an eye," Nolan said to his friends.

"And did you hear that that P.S 38 has been torn down so that it would be rebuilt as a memorial?" One of Nolan's friends chimed in.

Nolan wasn't aware of this.

"...What?"

"It's true," another friend jumped in the conversation. "Rackleff is announcing to acquire the remainder of P.S 38 for around 2.25 million dollars."

"You're kidding!"

"Not really."

Nina then comes by.

"Hey Nolan! Can we talk?"

Nolan was caught off-guard by Nina's sudden presence. So was his friends.

"Oh hey Nina! Hows it going?"

"Good. Mind if we have a word alone?" Nina asked, flashing her eyelashes.

"Talk here. We have no secrets," one of Nolan's friends encouraged Nina.

Everyone else agreed right after that.

"Okay, fine. What were you guys talking about? Was it the P.S 38 mass shooting?"

"Uh... yeah. Why are you asking? You know something about this?" Nolan asks suspiciously.

"I do. And I know that Nate was somehow behind it."

"How? I mean... what sort of involvement did Nate have?"

"He drove Gina completely insane and did not come forward to tell the truth. Such as tasering her in class and drove her insane in lunch but said nothing when the principal show up. THAT'S what drove her insane!" Nina explained to Nolan and his friends.

Silence.

Mouths hanged open.

No one said a word.

Until-

"Geez, Nina. I didn't realize how serious that is until now. Where could Gina be at now?" Nolan asked in shock.

"You're looking at her right now."

Absolute silence.

Nolan's friends were freaking out. Repeat: EXTREMELY FREAKING OUT.

"P...p...please! I don't want any trouble!" Nolan yelped.

"It's cool bro! Chill, okay?" Nina, or should I say GINA, tried to calm Nolan down.

"Look... I don't want any trouble! But I can get whatever you want! I won't even tell anyone about it!"

"Relax, Nolan. I know we both want the same thing. So I was thinking of a collaboration between us," Gina reassured and explained her proposal Nolan.

"You're asking US to have blood on our hands too?" One of Nolan's friends asked.

"What does this have to do with Nate again?" Another friend asked.

"Think about it: Nate humiliates me in school, drives me to the breaking point, but DOESN'T come forward to tell the truth about it. You on the other hand lost the mud bowl and lost the 37th year streak in a row and won't be able to make up for it (possibly) for the next 37 to 38 years and your other streaks for the next 7 to 8 years because you will be graduating in the next couple of years. Now are we getting somewhere?" Gina explained herself out.

"Uh...yeah. I agree! Nate DID take EVERYTHING from us, hasn't he?" Nolan jumped on board quickly.

"So here's the thing..." Gina began. "I can help you get that streak back in the next 37-38 years and I will make SURE it STAYS that way, and that no one will be asking questions on HOW it happened or WHY it happened... IF you join me. We can get REVENGE on Nate for what he has done to us!"

Silence.

"...and IF this offer is refused...?" Nolan asks, wondering now that HE will have to have blood on his hands.

Then Nolan spotted down to Gina's coat, which a hand slowly pointing a loaded gun, while checking to make sure no one else was looking.

"You either make the right choice... or you die for the wrong choice."

Nolan and his friends looked at each other nervously, not even knowing what to say to each other.

"So... what's it gonna be?" Gina asked, waiting for a final answer.

* * *

*Ellen's POV*

Okay, I may not be part of the story much, but at least I come in in some moments...right?

Anyway, life in California seemed rough, but the closest friend I have is Charlotte, but she helped me make other friends too, but not very much.

As me and Charlotte are heading home when we spotted a suspicious looking woman carrying what appears to be a body bag, and Charlotte began to worry. So we followed where the unknown individual are going until finally-

"Laura Diaz, one of the mole who faked being a high school teacher for English," said the female voice.

Laura Diaz. The woman that Dad brought over and made Nate very uncomfortable. I even told Zoe about it.

"Alright Laura, where's your boss? What is he planning?" the woman demanded.

"You ain't getting NOTHING out of me! No way!" Laura fired back.

"Hmmmmmm... maybe I'm not being clear..." said the woman before delivering a severe blow to Laura's stomach.

"Oooff!" Laura cringed in pain, making her fall to her front side.

Laura was coughing up blood now.

"Still not cracking," Laura replied weakly.

"I believe you," said the woman before leaving to get something.

The woman came back with a huge bag, unzipped it, and pulled out a baseball bat.

"But my stomach doesn't," the woman said before swinging down the bat on Laura, breaking her foot, knee,arm, stomach, and upper shoulder. But Laura prevailed.

"You...ain't getting...ANYTHING...out of...me..." Laura spoke weakly between coughs.

"Okay... then we are done talking," the woman replied before-

CRACK!

The unknown woman murdered Laura with a crunching blow to Laura's head.

Then-

Crack!

Charlotte stepped on a loose wood and it cracked and fell to the ground with a soft thud!

The woman became alarmed of the unwanted noise as me and Charlotte quickly fled the scene in a panic and began to run home when suddenly-

"I SEE YOU!" shouted the woman and I nearly screamed and along the way, I dropped her notebook, but didn't dare to turn back to get it and kept running with Charlotte, until finally, we made it home and slammed the door shut and locking it.

I was the one who was panting the most, covered in sweat and Charlotte was panting too.

Silence fell among us until we heard a knock on the door.

"Dad?" I called out completely worried it might be someone else.

Charlotte open the door and screamed and it turned out it was that woman who killed Laura and came charging at me.

"NO! LEAVE ME ALONE!" I screamed as I fled to my room and tried to close it, but the figure was one step ahead and managed to pin me to a wall, and that moment I knew... I was DONE. For good.

"What do you want?" I cried out, close to crying.

Then the figure held out my notebook and said with a warm smile:

"...I just wanted to return this. Call me Villanelle. Bye!" The woman-Villanelle now named- then left Ellen and Charlotte alone without any further incidents.

Left quite...shaken.

* * *

* Made it! Big shout out to the review section for ideas and hope I will get more ideas from you guys and big shot to the reviewer for inserting Killing Eve in this chapter and the episode inspired was called 'I have a thing about bathrooms.' So hope you have liked this chapter and stay tuned! :)


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